Our daily work involves marine cargo surveys of soft commodities such as peanuts, tree nuts, cocoa, spices, coffee, rice and beans. We have seen many of these cargoes arrive with condensation, cargo sweat, resulting mould, infestation, spoilage and other problems that can occur during container shipping. In the past, we have dealt with numerous break bulk claims where improper ventilation of the product combined with inherent moisture properties resulted in large shipments arriving with cargo damage.

Today, most soft commodities are shipped in containers, sometimes still in regular jute sacks, but more often in other types of packaging such as paper or woven sacks, vacuum bags, big bags and occasionally in bulk containers.

We have carried out many surveys on organic products, which are often susceptible to pests. Our team has the expertise and years of experience to handle these different types of packaging and shipping conditions.

We have extensive knowledge of different spices and herbs, each with their own specific characteristics. We have seen many cargoes of pepper, nutmeg, mace, cassia, ginger and others arrive with specific problems related to the properties of these products combined with transport or storage conditions. As members of the European Nut Association (ENA) and the Dutch Spice Trade Association, we keep abreast of the latest industry developments and standards.