Shipping Options to Frankfurt: Air vs. Sea Freight
| Criteria | Air freight (Frankfurt Airport) | Sea freight + inland (Hamburg/Rotterdam) |
|---|---|---|
| Transit time | 3–5 days | 25–35 days (sea) + 1–2 days (inland to Frankfurt) |
| Minimum order (MOQ) | Small quantities, suited for samples and market testing | 1 metric ton+ per product line |
| Cost per kg | Higher | Lower (economical for bulk volume) |
| Best for | Urgent orders, new product trials, seasonal restocking | Regular bulk orders, long-term contracts |
| Customs & documentation | Faster clearance at FRA | Requires coordination between entry port and inland transport |
| Recommended products | Freeze-dried fruit (time-sensitive) | Standard dried fruit, high volume |
Dried Fruit Supplier for Frankfurt
Frankfurt isn’t a seaport, but it’s still one of the most important entry points for dried fruit reaching German retailers and food processors — either by air through Frankfurt Airport (FRA), Europe’s largest cargo hub, or by inland barge and rail from Rotterdam and Hamburg via the Rhine-Main corridor.
Air freight vs. sea freight.
For smaller or time-sensitive orders — new product trials, seasonal top-ups, retail-ready packaging — air freight through FRA gets stock to Frankfurt-area distributors in days rather than weeks. For standard bulk container volumes, sea freight into Hamburg or Rotterdam followed by inland transport to Frankfurt is still the more economical route; we quote both ways depending on order size.
The market here.
Frankfurt and the surrounding Hesse region sit at the center of Germany’s wholesale food distribution network, with established European trading houses — companies like Catz International (Rotterdam-based, part of the Acomo group) — long active in the dried fruit and dehydrated vegetable trade across this corridor. It’s a market that expects consistent grading, lab documentation, and reliable lead times, not just competitive pricing.
What buyers here are asking for.
Search demand around Frankfurt increasingly centers on freeze-dried fruit rather than standard sun-dried — driven by retail and food-service buyers wanting better color retention and shelf life. We supply both lines separately, with freeze-dried apple, apricot, and strawberry quoted apart from our standard dried range.
What we supply into this market:
Dried Apple, Dried Apricot, Dried Fig, Dried Orange, Dried Cherry, Dried Plum, Dried Aloo Bukhara, Dried Peach, Dried Lemon, Dried Mango, Dried Banana, Dried Pineapple, and Dried Coconut — plus Dried Fruit Cube and Dried Fruit Dice for processing lines. Full dried fruit range available.
Documentation and compliance — Certificate of Analysis, pesticide/mycotoxin testing, LMIV-compliant labeling — follow the same standard across all our German shipments; full details on our Germany export page.
MOQ: 1 metric ton per product line for sea freight; smaller trial quantities available via air freight.