Frozen IQF strawberries from Morocco: a buyer's guide
What IQF means, why Moroccan frozen strawberries are available all year, and the specification points food manufacturers should agree before ordering.
Morocco grows strawberries for a winter and spring fresh season, and a share of every harvest goes straight to freezing plants. For yogurt, jam, bakery, ice-cream and smoothie makers, that means a steady supply of frozen strawberries all year. The Loukkos plain around Larache is one of the main areas where this happens: the fields and the freezing plants are close together.
What IQF means
IQF stands for individually quick frozen. Each berry (or piece) is frozen separately, usually in a tunnel or fluidised-bed freezer, so the product stays free-flowing instead of freezing into a block. You can take out the quantity you need without thawing the whole carton.
Formats you can ask for
- Whole strawberries, graded by size
- Diced or sliced pieces for fillings and inclusions
- Purée or crushed fruit for jams and drinks, on request
The specification points to agree
- Variety and origin: which varieties, from which farms.
- Cut and size grading: for whole fruit, the size range; for diced, the cube size.
- Defects and tolerances: green fruit, foreign matter, clumps, broken pieces.
- Brix and colour, if they matter for your recipe.
- Microbiology and residues: the limits your market requires, and a recent analysis.
- Packaging: carton or bag size, inner liner, labelling and traceability codes.
- Temperature: storage and transport at deep-freeze temperature, with records.
Season and stock
Fresh strawberries are harvested roughly from December to May. Freezing follows the harvest, so the best time to agree volumes for the next twelve months is before or during the season, when plants plan their production. Outside the season, you buy from what is in cold storage.
Getting it to you
Frozen strawberries travel well. For Europe, freezer trucks run through Tanger Med and across the Strait of Gibraltar; for more distant markets, containers ship by sea.
We know the freezing plants around Larache personally and can visit them for you, check their certificates and send samples. See our strawberry page or send us your specification.