Order quantities, shipping terms, payment, timelines, certification and quality — the questions buyers actually ask us, answered without the sales gloss.
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For most divisions the practical minimum is one 20-foot container. That works out at roughly 25 tonnes for bagged rice, pulses or oilseeds, and rather less by weight for lighter cargo such as textiles or handicrafts, where the container fills up before it reaches its weight limit.
Below a full container we can ship LCL, but the per-kilo freight rises sharply and destination handling charges often surprise first-time buyers. For high-value, low-volume products such as herbal extracts, smaller quantities make sense and we quote them happily.
Tell us the product and the quantity you have in mind and we will tell you honestly whether it is economic.
Yes, and we recommend it. Samples are couriered within about five working days of confirming the specification.
Small samples for evaluation are usually provided free, with the buyer covering courier cost. Larger pre-production samples, or samples requiring specific lab testing, are charged at cost and that cost is credited against your first order.
Yes. Mixing several products in one container is common and often the sensible way to start — it lets you test multiple lines without committing to a full container of each.
Two practical constraints. Products with strong aromas, spices above all, should not travel alongside odour-absorbing goods such as rice or pulses unless they are properly sealed and separated. And each product still needs its own documentation set, so a mixed container carries more paperwork than a single-product one.
Yes. Private label is standard for retail-facing products — you supply artwork, we handle printing and packing.
Budget for the lead time on printed packaging, which is usually the longest single item in the schedule. Minimum quantities for printed bags are set by the printer rather than by us, and they are typically higher than the minimum for the goods themselves.
Under FOB (Free on Board) we cover everything up to and including loading the goods on board the vessel at the named Indian port: inland haulage, terminal handling at origin, export customs clearance and loading.
From that point the freight, insurance, destination charges, import duty and onward delivery are yours. You book the vessel, which means you control the routing and see the real freight cost.
Our full explanation of the Incoterms rules is in the trade insights section.
One thing: insurance.
Under CFR we pay ocean freight to your port but you arrange marine insurance. Under CIF we pay freight and buy the insurance as well.
Under both, risk transfers to you when the goods are loaded on board at the origin port — not on arrival. That is why CIF exists: we buy the cover, but you are the one who claims on it if something happens mid-voyage. Note also that CIF requires only Institute Cargo Clauses (C), a restricted named-perils cover, not all-risk. If you want broader cover, say so in the contract.
CIF, usually. You get one landed number to work with, no forwarder to appoint, and no surprises on freight.
Once you have shipped with us a few times and have your own forwarder and rates, most buyers move to FOB and save money.
Yes, on DAP or DDP terms.
Under DAP we deliver to your address and you clear import and pay duty. Under DDP we handle import clearance and duty as well.
One caution on DDP: in some countries the importer of record must be locally registered for tax, and a foreign seller cannot legally hold that registration. Where that applies we will tell you and quote DAP instead rather than promise something that falls over at your customs.
An LC is an undertaking by your bank to pay us against documents that comply exactly with the terms of the credit. Most are issued subject to UCP 600.
The sequence: you instruct your bank to issue the credit, we ship and present documents, the bank checks them against the credit and pays. Banks deal in documents, not goods — the bank never inspects the cargo, only the paperwork.
Please send us a draft before the credit is issued. Amendments after issuance cost money and delay shipment, and most first presentations that get rejected are rejected over something trivial that a five-minute read would have caught.
Yes, and for most orders it is the cheaper option.
Our standard structure is 30% advance, 70% against a scanned bill of lading, with originals couriered once the balance clears. For a first order with a new buyer we usually suggest 50/50.
We do not accept payment through informal channels or third-party accounts. Every payment goes bank to bank against an invoice, which protects both sides.
Not on a first order. Open credit against an unknown counterparty across a border is not something any small exporter should be doing, and we would rather say so plainly than string you along.
After a track record of completed shipments we will discuss usance LC terms, where your bank guarantees payment at a set number of days after sight. That gives you the working capital benefit without asking us to carry uncovered credit risk.
Two separate periods, and it helps to think of them separately.
We give you a committed loading date at the time of the proforma invoice, not an indicative one.
Sometimes, and it depends on what is causing the delay. If the product is available and the constraint is freight, we can look at a faster routing or air freight for high-value cargo.
What we will not do is compress inspection or documentation to hit a date. That is where shipments go wrong, and an expedited container held at destination for a missing certificate is slower than a properly prepared one.
Once the container is loaded you receive the bill of lading number and the vessel details. That lets you track sailing and arrival on the carrier's own system.
We also send you the full document set as scans as soon as it is issued, so you are never waiting on a courier to know what is happening.
You hear it from us first, with the reason and a revised date. Port congestion, vessel roll-overs and weather are real and affect everyone on the lane; what is not acceptable is a buyer finding out because the container failed to arrive.
Where a delay is within our control — a sourcing problem, a documentation error on our side — we carry the cost of fixing it.
ZS Exports & Imports operates under IEC registration with the DGFT and is GST registered. Food-grade consignments are handled under FSSAI licensing, and agricultural and processed food exports fall under APEDA.
The full list is on the about page. If a specific certification matters for your import, ask us to confirm current validity in writing before you contract — certificates have expiry dates and you should see the actual document, not a logo on a website.
Yes. A standard document set includes:
Tell us the destination country at enquiry stage. Requirements vary and some certificates cannot be obtained retrospectively once the container has sailed.
They can, but it depends on the product and it has to be planned before sourcing rather than checked afterwards.
The EU applies strict maximum residue levels — the limit on tricyclazole in rice and the restrictions on ethylene oxide in spices have both caused widespread rejections across the industry. Meeting them means sourcing from growers on an appropriate spray schedule and testing the lot at an accredited laboratory before it is allocated to a container.
We will tell you plainly if a product cannot be supplied compliantly for your market at the price being discussed.
Yes, and we encourage it. You may appoint your own inspection agency, or we will arrange one from the recognised international firms.
Inspection happens before the container is sealed, not after. A certificate issued on a sealed container tells you nothing.
Four controls, in order:
Yes — that is the normal way we work. Grain length, moisture, broken percentage, calibre, curcumin content, ASTA colour, fabric construction, packing format: all of it is contracted rather than assumed.
The more precisely you specify, the more accurate the quotation and the less room there is for disagreement on arrival. A vague enquiry gets a vague price.
Tell us immediately, with photographs and, where the issue is measurable, an independent laboratory result.
If the consignment does not meet the contracted specification, we resolve it — replacement, credit, or a negotiated allowance depending on the extent of the shortfall. That is why we retain reference samples and inspection records for every shipment.
Transit damage where risk had already passed to you is an insurance claim rather than a supply dispute. We will provide whatever documentation your insurer needs to process it.
Packing is specified per product and per destination. Common formats are 25 kg and 50 kg woven polypropylene or jute bags for agricultural goods, vacuum or foil packing for spices and extracts, and cartons on pallets for textiles and handicrafts.
Containers are inspected for cleanliness and moisture before stuffing, and desiccants are used on long routes where condensation is a risk. Fumigation is carried out before stuffing where the product or the destination requires it, and the certificate travels with the documents.
Ask the trade desk directly. Tell us the product, destination port and quantity, and you will have a firm quotation within 24 hours.