Wholesale raisins for food professionals

Wholesale raisins: a range built around origins

Palimex has been a food wholesaler since 1984, and raisins are among the steadiest references in its dried-fruit range. The product looks simple; it is not. A calibrated Turkish Sultana, an Iranian or South African Golden Choice, a Chilean Flame Jumbo and a Greek Corinth currant share neither grade, texture nor baking behaviour. A buyer who orders "raisins" without naming the variety risks receiving a lot that will not perform in the recipe.

Our range covers the major dried-grape producing areas: Türkiye for Sultana, Greece for Corinth currants, Chile for Flame and Golden Jumbo, Iran and South Africa for Golden Choice, and Spain for Malaga raisins. Each origin carries its own product code, so you can reorder exactly the same lot profile season after season instead of a generic "raisin" whose provenance shifts without notice.

Which variety for which professional use?

The decision rests less on price than on baking performance and flavour profile. Here is how our foodservice and artisan customers allocate varieties across their workstations.

One rule emerges: the smaller the grade, the more concentrated the flavour and the better the raisin disperses through a batter; the larger the grade, the more it shows and the better it eats on its own. A fruit cake gains from currants, an aperitif platter from Jumbo.

We see the same mistake every year: a pastry chef orders Jumbo for a cake batter because the product looks more impressive in the carton. In the oven, the heavy grains sink to the bottom of the tin and the crumb turns uneven. For a batter we always recommend 9/10 Sultana or Corinth currants — Jumbo is for what people can see.

Pack formats: from the 5 kg pail to the 12.5 kg carton

Format should be chosen on turnover speed, not annual volume. An open carton that takes three weeks to empty loses softness; a resealable pail goes the distance. Our formats cover the full range of professional throughputs:

• 12.5 kg and 10 kg cartons — central kitchens, bakery-patisseries, high daily throughput.
• Resealable 5 kg pails — restaurants, caterers and labs with medium turnover; the pail protects the product between services.
• 12x1 kg, 10x1 kg and 9x1 kg packs — multiple workstations, per-service portioning, easier FIFO control.
• 20x500 g, 12x200 g and 24x350 g — fine grocers and retail resale, shelf-ready without repacking.

The minimum pack size is 5 kg and delivery is made by pallet, carriage paid above the threshold. The site is reserved for businesses with a registered company number: listed prices are wholesale prices and the account is approved before the first order.

Delivery checks, storage and stock rotation

Raisins are a product of controlled residual moisture, typically in the 12 to 14% range. That bracket decides everything: below it the grain hardens and cracks; above it the fruit sticks, clumps and becomes hard to portion consistently. A quick check on arrival is enough — a supple grain that separates from the rest under finger pressure, without leaving syrup behind, is a sound lot.

Store away from light and temperature swings, ideally in a dry, temperate stockroom. Opened cartons should be resealed or transferred to a covered food-grade bin and marked with the opening date to satisfy your HACCP plan. FIFO rotation remains the best protection: on a long-life product, the problem is rarely the expiry date — it is the texture drift of a lot forgotten at the back of the store.

Lot traceability and the regulatory framework

Every lot delivered carries its origin identification, so the chain can be traced back in the event of an inspection or a customer claim. Dried fruit is subject to maximum contaminant levels set at European level, notably for ochratoxin A in dried vine fruit: the applicable framework is Regulation (EU) 2023/915, available on EUR-Lex — maximum levels for certain contaminants in food. Buyers building a food-safety plan should archive the technical sheet and matching lot number for each reference.

If your quality process requires specific documentation on a given reference, ask for it before ordering rather than after delivery: it avoids holding a pallet while a document is chased.

Ordering your wholesale raisins

The raisin catalogue is available online with trade pricing once your account is approved. For large volumes, an off-catalogue reference or a recurring fixed-cadence requirement, a dedicated quotation is the fastest route — it locks a grade, an origin and a format across several deliveries. You can also extend your order across the whole wholesale dried fruit range to consolidate your carriage-paid threshold on a single pallet.