Plain Makhana for Export

Grade is a cost lever, not a quality badge

Plain makhana — sold in the Indian trade as phool makhana, and to international buyers as fox nuts or popped lotus seeds — is graded on one measure above all others. Suta measures the diameter of the popped kernel on a calibrated sieve, and it is the single biggest driver of your landed cost. Higher grades are not simply "better" — they are scarcer. A quintal of raw gorgon nut yields only a limited share of large, unbroken, uniformly white pops, so every step up the ladder narrows the pool and raises the price. Buying 6+ Suta for a product that gets milled into flour wastes most of what you paid for; buying 4 Suta for a gifting tin produces complaints. Match the grade to the channel and the margin follows.

Moisture decides whether crunch survives the voyage

The kernel is porous and hygroscopic. We dispatch at 5–7% moisture, verified per lot before stuffing, because that band is low enough to hold crispness through a long sea leg and high enough to avoid the brittleness that turns handling into breakage. The risk is not spoilage — makhana is too dry to support microbial growth at these levels — it is texture. A lot that leaves at the correct moisture and then sits in an unlined sack inside a hot container will arrive measurably softer.

Broken percentage is where disputes start

Breakage is a packing and handling outcome as much as a grading one. A light, hollow sphere crushes under compression, so stack height, carton strength and void fill decide how much of your lot arrives whole. We state a broken cap per grade at PO stage and verify it before stuffing rather than arguing about it after arrival. If your contract has a penalty clause on breakage, tie it to the figure on the specification sheet, not to a general expectation.

What to put on the purchase order

• Grade — named from the ladder above, not "large" or "premium".
• Moisture cap — the dispatch figure you want certified on the lab report.
• Broken cap — the maximum percentage you will accept on arrival.
• Pack format — sack weight, liner type and whether cartons or bare sacks.
• Destination port and Incoterm — EXW, FOB or CIF changes the quote, not just the paperwork.

Every one of these is fixed against the reference sample you approve, which reaches you in 3–5 working days. Production on a confirmed order runs 10–15 days.