French Green Lentils: export from Canada to ASEAN

French green lentils (the small, dark, mottled type) hold their shape through cooking better than any other class, which is the entire reason buyers pay a premium for them. They go into salads, plated dishes and retail packs where the lentil is visible and expected to stay intact.

Canadian production is smaller than for red or standard green lentils and concentrated in Saskatchewan, so availability is tighter and a buyer running a continuous programme should contract forward rather than expect spot supply.

The specification points are size uniformity, colour consistency and defect tolerance, with cooking-integrity the attribute the end user actually judges. Ask for the cooking test result rather than inferring it from grade, because a lot that meets grade on cleanliness can still break down if the crop year ran wet.

As with all Canadian pulses the harvest is annual, so crop year is a live commercial term rather than a formality.