Frequently Asked Questions
Our warehouse with some 10,000 square meters is located near our main port of import: in Hamburg, Germany. The exact address and contact details will be shared on our release/delivery notes.
Our administrative and managerial office is located in the beautiful city of Munich in southern Germany. We are happy to welcome and host you in our office any time!
As an importer is of utmost importance for us to source from the right people. The food sector is built on trust. And the organic superfood sector even more so. This means that we purchase our goods only from individuals we have made personal relationships with. Someone we know will be there with us when prices go up or down, when new EU regulations need to be implemented or when a shipment goes wrong. Our relationship must be strong – in good times and challenging times.
We only source from reliable, fast, ethical producers committed to organic and social as well as environmentally responsible.
Hence, we travel onsite, visit the fields, inspect the farmers, talk to the cooperatives, visit the processing facility, and speak to the management, the quality team and the sales team. If we feel this is a good fit along all dimensions, we make our producer and supplier go through a thorough vetting process, including all relevant certifications, until he/she is finally approved for their first trial trade. From there on, we continue through regular visits and a careful performance assessment in terms of both: product quality, transport, service and pricing.
There are plenty of certificates that we hold: organic, IFS broker, FLO Fairtrade just to name a few. You can find them on our homepage and you can download the most recent versions in case you need them for an audit.
That depends on the product. We intend to sell and ship at least one full pallet of a single product.
Because we understand that requirements vary sometimes and some clients need smaller volumes, we can also stack a mixed pallet (several products on one pallet). However, this usually comes with extra palletisation costs.
Some expensive products, such as organic ceremonial matcha tea powder or organic freeze-dried acai powder, have one box as the minimum order quantity.
Our regular office hours are 09:00 to 18:00. If you have an urgent concern, your salesperson will happily assist you through his mobile phone after office hours or on the weekend. We want to be there for you when you need us.
First will be your salesperson: for new purchases but also for any questions or queries after your purchase.
For deliveries, you will be in touch with our logistics person.
Our goods are labelled according to organic regulations or minimum food labelling requirements. All of our goods are labelled neutrally. This means that neither our name nor logo nor the name or logo of our producer is on the label. Instead, we work with codes that serve the purpose of traceability.
Most of our goods are palletised on EU pallets: 120cm x 80cm. Most of our pallets are about 160cm high. Some goods are palletised higher, up to 195cm. This is done to economise the forwarding cost on the road to you.
If the goods come in cartons, the pallets will be wrapped in stretch plastic.
We often pack the goods in bags in an outer carton to ensure their stability. Some loads are so heavy and stable that they do not need an outer carton. This is primarily true for chia and coconut sugar.
Most of our pallets carry a net weight of 600kg.
Gojis come on 560kg EU pallets.
Desiccated coconut is lighter and typically comes in 400 or 200kg on an EU pallet.
In countries that are part of the EPAL exchange pool (Germany, Austria, Netherlands, Belgium, Luxemburg), EPAL pallets can be exchanged free of charge. In all other countries, we charge the current market rate for pallets.
Our standard payment term is pre-payment: Your salesperson emails you a pro-forma invoice, you pay and email us proof of payment back, and our delivery team will email you a release or delivery note. If you are an established company, we should be able to get you insured through our credit insurer, ATRADIUS (www.atradius.com). This will be free of charge for you. If we can get your delivery insured you can discuss payment terms with your salesperson.
No problem, we can do both. We can prepare your goods for you to pick up from our warehouse in Hamburg. Or we can ship to your warehouse. Your salesperson will forward you the price we get quoted from our logistics partner. We do not add any margin on the transport cost; transport is not our business. We forward you the price we get quoted.
We only deliver within the European Union and Great Britain. We do not ship to other non-European countries.
Your trucker must always contact our warehouse before pick-up. The contact email is on the release note we email to you. Once your trucker has requested pick-up date and time, this will be confirmed, or a different date and time will be provided to your trucker to pick up your goods from our warehouse.
Please understand that due to the high turnover we (fortunately) have; we cannot just have truckers show up unannounced to pick up a pallet or two. Please ensure your trucker always notifies our warehouse before pick-up.
We have most of our portfolio in stock in Hamburg, Germany. A regular order should be available for pick-up or leave our warehouse within 3-5 days after receiving your order confirmation. Once the forwarder has your goods on the road, it will depend on the forwarder and your location.
Abbott Blackstone International GmbH (Germany) and Abbott Blackstone Co. (USA) are separate entities. We are fortunate to entertain an open, friendly and trusted partnership with the management of the US company who have assisted us in our early founding years. We openly share experiences about producers, markets and products as it facilitates our purchasing efficiency and ultimately benefits both company’s staff and, most importantly, our clients.
