Edible and milling copra
Both are dried coconut kernel. What separates them is how they were dried and what they will become.
Edible copra is dried under controlled conditions to produce clean, pale kernel suitable for human consumption or for use in food manufacture. Because appearance and hygiene matter, drying is done in ways that avoid smoke contact and contamination, and the resulting product commands a higher price.
Milling copra is dried for one purpose: to be crushed for oil. Appearance is largely irrelevant; what matters is oil content and the chemical condition of that oil. Drying methods that would be unacceptable for edible material — including smoke drying — are used because they are cheaper and the end use tolerates them.
A buyer specifying "copra" without saying which has not identified the product. See edible copra and milling copra.
The commercial distinction
| Attribute | Edible copra | Milling copra |
|---|---|---|
| End use | Human consumption, food manufacture | Crushing for oil |
| Drying | Controlled, avoiding smoke contact | Including methods unsuitable for food use |
| Appearance | Clean and pale — a specification parameter | Not commercially significant |
| Governing parameters | Moisture, appearance, hygiene | Oil content, free fatty acid, moisture |
| Price position | Higher | Lower |
| Buyer | Food manufacturers, packers | Oil mills, crushers |
Copra pages
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Send the grade, quantity, packing format, destination port and required period. Those five details are what make an offer possible on the first reply rather than the third.