Prepare a carrot lot a buyer can assess without a site visit.

1. The product

   Table or processing carrots, variety if you know it, washed or not, harvest date. Say whether sizes are mixed or the lot has been sorted.

2. Size and defects

   What graded the lot out: off-size (too small, too large), off-shape (forked, bent, broken), split, spotted, or simply a storage surplus of in-spec carrots. Give an approximate proportion rather than an adjective.

3. Quantity and unit

   Tonnes, kilograms, bins or pallets, with the approximate weight per bin or pallet. Say whether the weight is net or gross and whether the lot can be split.

4. Condition and storage

   Where the carrots are (field, cold storage, unrefrigerated storage), since when, at what temperature. Storage carrots keep at 0 to 1 °C in high humidity; a lot held warmer keeps for less time, and the buyer wants to know.

5. Logistics

   Loading address, dock or forklift loading, possible hours, access for a 53-foot truck, outbound packaging (returnable bins or not).

6. The floor price

   The price below which you would rather keep the lot, per tonne or per bin. Set it from the lot, your costs and your current outlets: what this lot brings you today, as feed or elsewhere, is your comparison point, not the table-carrot price.

7. Photos

   Three are enough: an overview of the lot, a representative close-up of the defects, and a photo of the bin or pallet without any label carrying your company name (we mask any name before passing material to buyers). Taken the same day, unedited.

Downloadable briefs

• Lot brief (grower), blank
• Buying requirements (buyer), blank
• Fictional example of a completed lot brief

Plain text files, readable anywhere. The completed example is fictional: it shows the useful level of detail and matches no real lot.

See also: The questions to settle before accepting a grade-out lot.