Ginger is bought twice: once on appearance at the packing house, and once on behaviour three weeks later in a warehouse in Rotterdam or Dubai. A rhizome that looks perfect on the grading table can be soft at the shoulder, hollow at the core, or already showing blue-black bruising under the skin — none of which is visible in a photograph sent with a quotation.
This category covers the fresh ginger grades Phoenix Food Technology ships from Shandong, and explains what the specification should contain before you compare prices.
Wholesale fresh ginger — washed, graded rhizomes for wholesale markets, repackers and foodservice distributors.
Large yellow ginger — the export-grade selection, heavier rhizomes with pale yellow flesh, suited to retail packs and processing.
Air-dried large yellow ginger — surface-dried after washing so the skin is sound and the rhizome travels without surface mould.
Frozen ginger granules — for buyers who need the same raw material in IQF form rather than fresh.
Downstream, the same raw material feeds our dehydrated ginger category, which covers 80–100 mesh powder and steam-sterilized 100–120 mesh powder.
Fresh ginger is traded on a small number of variables, and every one of them should appear in the purchase specification. Size is quoted as a weight band per rhizome — commonly 150–250 g, 250–350 g or 350 g and above — because count per carton alone tells you nothing about whether the buyer is receiving fingers or hands.
Skin condition is the second variable. Washed ginger has the outer skin removed; air-dried ginger keeps a sound skin and a dry surface, which travels better on long ocean routes. Flesh colour, fibre content and moisture decide the end use: low-fibre, high-moisture rhizomes suit pickling and fresh retail, while firmer, more fibrous material is what dehydration and oleoresin extraction actually want. Buying the wrong one costs more than buying at the wrong price.
Shandong ginger is planted in spring and lifted from late autumn, then held in controlled storage for sale through the following months. The storage regime is the part of the supply chain buyers never see and most often end up paying for: ginger held too cold develops chilling injury and will not keep, while ginger held too warm sprouts and loses weight.
We quote the crop and the storage age at the time of shipment, and we would rather tell a buyer that a specific grade is thin in a given month than ship stored material against a fresh-crop specification.
Fresh ginger is not a normal chilled product. The practical storage range is 12–13 °C at high relative humidity, and this is why ginger is often consolidated with ambient or warm-chilled cargo rather than with leafy vegetables at 2–4 °C. Loading ginger into a standard chilled container set for salad items is one of the most common causes of arrival claims in this category.
Ventilation matters as much as temperature. Rhizomes respire, and a sealed container with no air exchange accumulates moisture and condensation on the carton faces, which is where surface mould starts. We specify the container setting with the booking and record it on the shipping documents so the receiving warehouse can match it.
Standard export packing is 10 kg, 20 kg or 30 kg mesh bags, and 10 kg or 20 kg cartons with ventilation. Mesh allows air movement and suits wholesale and repacking; cartons protect the rhizome from impact and suit retail supply chains where appearance at destination matters. Palletised loading is available with corner boards and stretch wrap.
The minimum order is 1 metric ton per grade. Loading is confirmed per packing format: around 16 tons in a 20-foot container and around 25 tons in a 40-foot container for cartoned goods. Terms are FOB Qingdao, payment before shipment, with lead time normally within three weeks of a signed contract.
Grading removes shrivelled, sprouting, diseased and mechanically damaged rhizomes, and the retained sample is the reference for the next shipment. Each consignment carries commercial invoice, packing list, certificate of origin and phytosanitary certificate, plus residue testing where the destination requires it. HALAL certification is available for the ginger line, and plant audit documentation can be shared for your compliance file before a first order.
Product | Fresh ginger (Zingiber officinale), Shandong origin |
Grades | Wholesale fresh; large yellow; air-dried large yellow |
Rhizome size | 150–250 g, 250–350 g, 350 g+ per rhizome |
Skin | Washed, or air-dried with sound skin |
Flesh | Pale yellow, firm, low to medium fibre |
Storage | 12–13 °C, high RH, ventilated |
Packing | 10/20/30 kg mesh bag; 10/20 kg ventilated carton |
Minimum order | 1 metric ton per grade |
Loading | Approx. 16 t / 20'FCL, 25 t / 40'FCL |
Trade terms | FOB Qingdao; payment before shipment |
Three questions separate a real offer from a number. What is the rhizome weight band? Was the ginger washed or air-dried? And what container setting will be used? A quotation that answers all three can be compared against another; one that answers none of them cannot, regardless of the price per ton.
Buyers new to the category usually find it useful to read our guides on choosing a fresh ginger supplier and on ginger varieties and how they differ before shortlisting.
Washed ginger has the outer skin removed and a brighter appearance, which suits retail and short transit. Air-dried ginger keeps a sound skin with a dry surface, which holds up better over long ocean routes. The choice is a transit-time decision as much as a presentation one.
Ginger is damaged by storage below roughly 12 °C and develops chilling injury that shows up as softening and discolouration after arrival. It also needs ventilation to prevent condensation. Both are set at booking and recorded on the documents.
Usually the firmer, more fibrous large yellow grade rather than the premium low-fibre retail selection. Dry matter and fibre content determine yield per ton of powder, so the cheaper visual grade is often the more expensive raw material.
Yes. Fresh, air-dried and dehydrated ginger are handled from the same origin and can be consolidated, although the dehydrated powder ships in a dry container and the fresh rhizomes in a ventilated one, so they are separate bookings.
By holding the rhizome within its correct temperature and humidity range, by ventilating the store, and by shipping against the storage age stated in the offer. If your market has a specific position on post-harvest treatment, raise it at enquiry and it is written into the specification.
It depends on the storage age at the time of shipment and the conditions at destination. Ginger held at 12–13 °C with ventilation keeps far longer than ginger stored in a sealed cold room, and the storage age we quote at order stage is the input you need to plan shelf life against.
