Post-harvest handling encompasses all operations between harvest and processing or sale, including field heat removal, cleaning, sorting, grading and packing, and it is critical to preserving crop quality and minimising losses in fresh, frozen and dried supply chains.
In trade practice
For frozen vegetables and berries, the interval between harvest and freezing is a key quality variable; suppliers should document time-temperature records from field to freezer intake as part of their HACCP and traceability systems. Sorting and grading at this stage remove defective, damaged or foreign-matter-contaminated units before they enter processing, reducing the risk of non-conforming finished product. A frequent gap in supplier audits is the absence of written procedures for field-side cooling or transport temperature control, which leaves quality claims unsupported.
In a specification
Contracts may specify a maximum time between harvest and freezing or drying, and require that post-harvest handling records, including temperature logs and grading rejection rates, are retained and available for buyer audit.