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How we buy at origin
Most exporters buy from a trader and sell it on. We buy the crop ourselves, through our own offices in Madagascar, Benin, Tanzania and India. This page explains what that changes for the buyer.
The difference
Three things that change when you own the origin
Every exporter says they source at origin. Fewer employ people there. These are the practical consequences.
01
You buy in season, not on offer
Pulses, cloves and cashew are weather-driven crops with a short buying window. Someone on the ground buys when the crop is right. A trading desk buys when a supplier calls — which is usually when that supplier wants to move something.
02
Quality is checked before it ships
Cleaning and grading happen at origin, before the container is sealed. A rejection found at the destination port is a claim, a delay and a relationship problem. Found at origin it is simply a re-clean.
03
The price has one margin in it
Buying direct removes the intermediary layer between the farm and the container. That is where the competitiveness comes from — not from cutting the specification.
The offices
What each one actually does
Madagascar · since 2011
Cloves, beans and spices
Our own cleaning facility and warehouse. Over 2,000 MT of cloves a year, plus black eye beans, lima and white beans and red cow peas. Cleaned, graded and stored at origin before shipment.
Benin · since 2013
Cashew out, rice in
The Cotonou office buys raw cashew through the West African season and handles rice moving the other way. Two directions of trade through one office.
Tanzania · since 2015
Pulses and cashew
Green mung beans, chickpeas, pigeon peas, sesame and cashew, bought directly through the East African season.
India
Sunrise Agri Impex
Our group sourcing and processing operation for pulses, rice and spices. Milling and processing to specification rather than buying finished lots.
Kenya
Sourcing origin
Spices, rice and pulses sourced alongside our Tanzania and Madagascar operations.
Dubai · Ras Al Khor
Processing and packing
Our own unit at Al Aweer. Cleaning, grading, repacking and retail packing under NITRA or a buyer's own label before the cargo moves on.
The process
From the crop to your port
Step one
Buying
Our people buy at origin through the season, against the positions we are carrying and the contracts already written.
Step two
Cleaning and grading
Machine cleaned, graded and sorted at origin. Hand-sorted where the contract calls for it.
Step three
Warehousing
Held at origin or in Dubai, which is what lets us supply through the off-season rather than only at harvest.
Step four
Packing
25kg and 50kg bulk bags, or retail packs from the Ras Al Khor unit under NITRA or your own label.
Step five
Documentation
Invoice, packing list, bill of lading, certificate of origin, phytosanitary and fumigation certificates, and inspection reports for your port.
Step six
Shipment
Loaded at origin or ex-Dubai depending on the contract, on FOB, CFR or CIF terms.
Continuity
Supply that holds between harvests
The hardest thing for an importer is not finding one container. It is finding the same specification again in four months. Buying at origin and holding stock at both ends is what makes that possible, and it is the reason customers stay with us for decades rather than seasons.
Looking for a specific origin?
Tell us the commodity and the origin you need. If we buy it ourselves we will say so, and if we do not we will tell you that too.