Chocolate-coated freeze-dried strawberry and blackberry: four dragées, two packs, one pallet plan

What freeze-drying does to the fruit

A fresh strawberry is about nine-tenths water. Freeze-drying freezes the fruit and then draws the ice out under vacuum, so the water leaves without the fruit collapsing. What remains is light, crisp and the same shape as the berry it came from, with the colour and the sharpness intact. That is why the berry can be coated whole: the chocolate sets around a piece that keeps its form, and the first bite goes through the shell into fruit rather than paste.

The four lines

Strawberry comes in three coatings: milk chocolate (reference AF-DR-114), dark chocolate (AF-DR-115) and white chocolate (AF-DR-116). Blackberry comes in milk chocolate (AF-DR-117). The four share one retail pack and one bulk pack, so the set goes on the shelf with a single case size and a single pallet plan. The dragée page lists them beside the coated almonds, hazelnuts and pistachios.

The coating is built in layers. On the milk strawberry line the data sheet lists milk chocolate and a milk-chocolate compound layer around the fruit, finished with a glaze; the data sheet for each line states the layers, the fats used and the allergens, and it comes with the offer. The allergen to declare is milk; the factory also handles soya and tree nuts, and the label says so. Chocolate or compound coating explains the difference.

Retail pack: 80 g doypack, 16 per case

The retail unit is an 80 g stand-up doypack with a zip that stands on the shelf and closes again at home. Sixteen packs go into one case of 20 × 28 × 18 cm, 1.28 kg net and 1.64 kg gross. A Euro pallet of 80 × 120 cm takes 16 cases per layer and ten layers: 160 cases, 2,560 packs, about 195 cm high, 204.8 kg net.

Bulk pack: 2 kg bags, 6 per case

For repacking, pick-and-mix walls and café counters the same dragées come in 2 kg bags, six to a case of 12 kg net. A pallet carries 36 cases, 216 bags and 432 kg net. One order can carry both.

Pallet, container and truck

Shipped in a refrigerated container, a 20-foot high-cube takes 11 pallets of doypacks, 28,160 packs; a 40-foot high-cube takes 22 pallets, 56,320 packs; a full truck takes 30 pallets, 76,800 packs. Each line travels on its own pallet, so an order of all four is four pallets at minimum. The rest of the container can carry tablets, bars, Turkish delight or pistachio spread on their own pallets: the mixed container. The pallets page shows the plan.

Shelf life and temperature

The lines carry a shelf life of 12 months, which can reach 18 months when storage conditions are kept, and they want the same treatment as chocolate: a reefer container on the way and a cool, dry, odour-free store at the other end, away from sunlight. Freeze-dried fruit takes up moisture, so the zip and the sealed bag matter: a pack left open in a humid shop loses its crispness.

Under your own label

All four lines can be run under your brand. The minimum is 1,000 kg per line, and the printed doypack film carries the same minimum, with the packaging costed separately from the unit price. Your side is the artwork and the label text; our side is the recipe, the production and the ingredient, allergen and nutrition data. The private label page walks through the steps.

How an order travels

We make to order and do not sell from stock. The usual basis is FOB Mersin in US dollars, by full container or full truck; for Europe a part load is possible with one full pallet per product as the minimum. Production takes four to six weeks from order confirmation and advance payment. Every line is made in our own factory at Başpınar OSB, Gaziantep, exporting since 2002; the Antep Foods brand was founded in 2025. Send the references and quantities; the written offer follows within two working days.