Chickpeas

Chickpeas are priced by calibre before anything else. Kabuli types are sized by millimetre screen or by count per ounce, and the step from a 7 mm to a 9 mm calibre is a genuine price step, not a rounding difference. A canner or a hummus plant buys large calibre for visual consistency; a miller producing besan buys desi type where size is almost irrelevant and yield is everything. The second quality axis is skin condition and colour. Wrinkled, stained or split seed reads as low quality on a plate even when the nutritional value is untouched, so a food-grade contract states a maximum for defective and discoloured seed. For canning, uniform hydration matters: mixed calibres in one lot cook unevenly and produce soft and firm beans in the same can. Tell us the end process — canning, hummus, roasting, snack coating or milling — and the calibre discussion resolves itself quickly.

Kabuli 7 mm: Entry calibre for value canning and blended packs. Kabuli 8 mm: The broad commercial middle of the export market. Kabuli 9 mm: Premium calibre for whole-bean presentation. Kabuli 10 mm and above: Limited availability, priced accordingly, subject to crop year. Desi chickpeas: Smaller, darker seed for splitting and besan flour milling.

Calibre — 7, 8, 9 and 10 mm screens; count per ounce on request. Purity — Typically 99 %+ machine cleaned for food grade. Moisture — Normally 12–14 % maximum at loading. Defects — Maximum defective, split and discoloured seed agreed per contract. Processing — Cleaned, sized, gravity separated and colour sorted. Values vary by grade, crop year and supplier and are confirmed against supplier documentation at quotation.

Canadian chickpea production is concentrated in Saskatchewan, with kabuli types the main export class. Volumes are more variable year to year than lentils or peas because acreage responds sharply to relative pulse prices and to growing-season moisture. The practical implication is that large-calibre kabuli is not equally available in every crop year. When a specific calibre is tight, the honest options are to accept a smaller calibre, to blend within a stated tolerance, or to wait for the new crop — we will say which of these applies rather than quote a size we cannot ship. Origin, availability, grade and certification are confirmed at quotation for the lot actually offered — origin is a supply attribute, never an assumed property of the product.

Always contract on a stated calibre and a stated screen tolerance — 'large kabuli' is not a specification. · Confirm whether your market requires a specific pesticide residue standard; testing scope is agreed before shipment. · Quoted FOB, CFR or CIF.

Commonly relevant documentation: Certificate of Analysis with calibre distribution · Phytosanitary Certificate · Certificate of Origin · Pesticide residue report on request · Fumigation certificate where required. Availability is confirmed per order and per destination.