Freshness Takes the Fastest Route.
Every day, HENJ Trading LLC airlifts carefully selected fruits, vegetables, leafy greens and herbs from Kerala to Dubai, shortening the distance between harvest and market while protecting freshness at every stage.
The Kerala run
Curry leaves picked in Kerala on Monday morning are on a Dubai counter on Tuesday. By sea the same bunch would arrive with most of its shelf life already spent, and the buyer would be marking it down before it ever reached a kitchen. That gap, between what was harvested and what is worth selling, is the whole reason this range flies.
We run it daily rather than weekly. A daily uplift means a buyer orders against what the week actually needs instead of forecasting a container, and a short crop or a sudden order can be answered the next morning rather than the next shipment.
Air freight costs more per kilogram and we do not pretend otherwise. For a product with a five-day life it is the only mode that delivers something still worth paying for, which is why the heavy, long-life lines stay on the water where they belong.
At a glance
What flies
Air freight is worth paying for where shelf life is measured in days. Everything else moves by sea reefer, and we will tell you which is which.
| Line | Why it flies | Packing | Mode |
|---|---|---|---|
| Curry leaves, mint & coriander | Days of shelf life, not weeks: value is lost on the ground | 100 / 200 g bunches in vented cartons | Air only |
| Banana leaves | Bruise and dry out quickly; sold on appearance | Folded, lined cartons | Air only |
| Drumsticks (moringa) | Tender pods stiffen and shrivel within days of picking | Bundled, 5 / 10 kg cartons | Air only |
| Tender coconut | Cut-to-drink window is short and the water spoils first | Trimmed, cartoned by count | Air only |
| Green chilli, beans & gourds | Firmness and colour carry the price | 5 / 10 kg vented cartons | Air, sea reefer in volume |
| Seasonal fruit | Ripeness peaks in transit, so days matter at both ends | 3 / 5 / 10 kg cartons | Air, sea reefer in volume |
| Cardamom & aromatic spice | Aroma is the product, and it fades with time and heat | Lined cartons and vacuum packs | Air preferred |
| Samples & urgent top-ups | A gap on the shelf costs more than the freight | As per line | Air |
Moved fast
The lines that reward speed. Picked, packed and shipped so they reach the market while they are still worth selling — by air where a few days decide the sale, by sea where the volume justifies it. Each card says which.
Firm, even-coloured tomatoes graded for market and retail supply.
Tender, snap-fresh okra picked young and moved by air.
Glossy purple brinjal with fresh green calyx, graded by size.
Crisp green beans that snap rather than bend on arrival.
Firm, deeply ridged karela in the sizes South Indian kitchens buy.
Young ridge gourd cut before the ribs turn woody.
Long, pale snake gourd handled so it arrives unbruised.
Mature ash gourd with its wax bloom intact, whole or cut.
Small, even kovakka picked tender for daily South Indian trade.
Red and white onions graded by size and packed for bulk trade.
Kerala nendran and yellow table bananas, cut to the ripening stage you need.
Sweet, low-acid pineapple cut close to full colour.
Whole jackfruit, or cleaned bulbs for kitchens that will not cut it themselves.
Crisp white and pink guava, picked firm so it travels.
Sapota picked at the stage that ripens sweet rather than grainy.
Green and red fresh chilli in a range of heat levels.
Tender moringa drumsticks, bundled and air freighted.
Aromatic fresh curry leaves picked and packed the same day.
Large, unblemished leaves cut and packed flat for transit.
One shipment, end to end
Six steps, one point of contact, and a clock running through all of them.
Harvested at farm level in Kerala and moved to the pack house the same morning, while field heat is still coming out of the produce.
Sorted to grade, trimmed, bunched and packed into vented export cartons at origin, so nothing is repacked later in a warmer room.
Phytosanitary certificate, invoice and packing list raised against the booking, then delivered to the airline for the evening departure.
Four hours in the air from Kerala to Dubai. The produce is in the destination market before it would otherwise have left the district.
Customs and food-control clearance handled on landing, with cool storage at the airport if a consignment has to wait for the run.
Broken down at Al Aweer and out to the customer on our own vehicles, on the day the aircraft lands wherever the schedule allows.
Protecting freshness
Rarely in the air. It goes in the waiting: on a hot loading bay, in a repack, or in a consignment held back for paperwork.
Every carton is made up in Kerala, so the produce is handled once and travels in the box it was graded into.
Cool storage before uplift, cool storage on arrival, refrigerated vehicles for the last leg. The gaps are where freshness is lost.
Phytosanitary certificate, certificate of origin, invoice and packing list travel with the consignment, not behind it.
Consignments are inspected at Al Aweer before release. Anything that did not travel well is taken out, not passed on.
Overland GCC delivery
Our own trucks, loaded at Al Aweer and running overland through Saudi Arabia, so the last leg of your order is not handed to a third party.
Road route: Dubai to Qatar, Bahrain and Kuwait.
Retailers and supermarkets whose produce aisle is judged on how the leaves look; restaurant and catering kitchens cooking South Indian menus that need the real ingredient rather than the nearest substitute; and wholesalers at Al Aweer supplying both.
Most start with a short weekly list of leaves, herbs and drumsticks, then add lines as the run proves itself. Fresh produce is a weekly conversation, not an annual contract.
See the fresh produce rangeOnions, coconuts, potatoes, rice, pulses and spices in volume do not need an aircraft, and paying for one only makes the landed cost worse. Those move by sea reefer or ventilated dry container, and the loadability is set out on the packing page.
Where a customer takes both, the two arrive on the same delivery run: the container staples and the daily fresh order from one supplier.
Packing & shipping referenceTell us the lines, the grades and the quantities you need landed in Dubai. We will come back with what is good right now, what it costs air freighted, and the day it arrives.