Dried pulses are shelf-stable at ambient temperature, so packing is about mechanical protection, moisture control, pest exclusion and — above all — matching the receiving plant’s handling equipment.
The four standard formats
25 kg woven polypropylene bags. The default for food-grade pulses moving into repacking, food service and smaller processors. Bags are laminated or fitted with a food-grade liner, stitched or heat-sealed, and palletised in a locked pattern with stretch wrap and often corner boards. One 20-foot container takes roughly twenty pallets of this format. Handling is manual or by sack truck at the receiving end, which is why buyers without bulk intake insist on it.
50 kg bags. Still used into some Middle Eastern and North African destinations where manual discharge is the norm and labour is organised around that weight. Increasingly rare into the EU, where manual handling rules discourage it.
Big bags (FIBC), typically 500 to 1250 kg. Preferred by industrial processors — millers, canners, protein fractionators — who tip directly into an intake hopper. Fewer units per container means faster discharge and less packaging waste. Spouts top and bottom, UN-marked lifting loops, and a documented safe working load with a stated safety factor. Food-grade FIBCs must be virgin polypropylene with a certified liner.
Bulk in a lined container. The cheapest format per tonne. A standard dry box is fitted with a kraft or polyethylene bulk liner and a bulkhead across the door, filled through the roof hatches or the door, and discharged by tipping or vacuum. Used for large industrial volumes where the receiver has bulk intake and there is no need to keep sub-lots separate.
What the packing has to achieve
- Food contact compliance — the liner or bag inner surface falls under the EU food contact materials framework and the plastics implementing regulation; ask for the declaration of conformity, not just an assurance
- Moisture control — liners plus desiccant poles manage container sweat on long ambient voyages, as covered in what moisture pulses should be shipped at
- Pest exclusion — sealed, intact packaging is a control alongside phytosanitary treatment; see is fumigation required
- Traceability — lot code, production date, net weight, origin and harvest year printed or labelled on every unit, tying back to the traceability records
- Wood packaging compliance — pallets must carry the international phytosanitary mark for treated wood packaging, or be plastic or pressed-fibre
Choosing between them
Ask the receiving plant three questions: can you tip a big bag, can you accept bulk, and do you need to keep sub-lots separate? A buyer who blends lots and runs a hopper should take FIBCs or bulk. A buyer who repacks to retail and needs lot-level segregation should take 25 kg. Mixed formats in one container are possible but complicate the packing list and slow discharge. See chickpeas for the formats typically offered from Ukrainian origin.