Practical, field-tested reefer settings for Indonesian bird’s eye chili (cabai rawit) on 7–14 day sea shipments in 2025. Exact setpoints, FAE, humidity, pre-cooling, and loading practices to avoid chilling injury and arrival claims.
If you ship Indonesian bird’s eye chili and you’ve had arrivals that look fine on the surface but show black seed browning and water-soaked tips 48 hours later, you’re not alone. We see it in claims all the time. The root cause is usually simple. The reefer was set too cold or the load went in warm and condensed. Here is the exact configuration we use for 7 to 14 day sea shipments in 2025.
Quick reference: 2025 reefer settings for Indonesian bird’s eye chili
- Commodity: Indonesian bird’s eye chili. Cabai rawit.
- Supply air setpoint: 8.5°C. Acceptable range 8 to 9.5°C depending on maturity and lane.
- Control mode: Supply air control. Do not use return air control for chili.
- Fresh air exchange: 10 to 15 m³/h. Start at 15 m³/h for mixed maturity lots. Reduce to 10 m³/h in cooler seasons or if shrivel risk.
- Fans: Continuous. Disable economy or intermittent fan modes.
- Dehumidification: Off. Let RH run high.
- Target RH in load: 90 to 95 percent via packaging and tight airflow. No direct RH set needed.
- Pulp temperature at stuffing: 8.5 to 9.5°C. Reject or delay if average pulp exceeds 12°C.
- Container pre-cool: Pull down the empty reefer to 8°C for at least 2 hours before loading.
- Packaging vent area: 6 to 8 percent total open area per carton. Align vents vertically to create airflow chimneys.
- Data loggers: Minimum three. One near return air front, one mid-load center pallet, one at the doors.
These settings are tuned for 7 to 14 day sea transit to Asia and the Middle East using standard reefers. They assume export-grade, well-cured fruit packed in vented cartons with liners. If you are shipping a different chili type, like cayenne, the same settings are a good starting point. We run similar profiles on our Red Cayenne Pepper (Fresh Red Cayenne Chili) and see consistent arrivals.
What temperature should I set the reefer for Indonesian bird’s eye chili?
Set the supply air to 8.5°C. We allow 8 to 9.5°C depending on fruit age and expected dwell times at transshipment. Bird’s eye chili is a tropical fruiting vegetable. It is chilling sensitive below about 7°C. Aiming at 8.5°C puts you safely above the injury threshold while controlling respiration and decay.
In our experience, 3 out of 5 claims we review trace back to sub 7°C air or a setpoint at 7°C that ran colder in the bottom air stream. Supply air at 8.5°C avoids that trap.
Practical takeaways: choose 8.5°C supply air. Increase to 9 to 9.5°C if fruit is very immature, if transit includes long port stays with power interruptions, or if cartons are minimally vented.
Is 5°C too cold for cabai rawit during sea shipment?
Yes. Five degrees is too cold for bird’s eye chili. At 5°C you risk chilling injury within 3 to 7 days. Symptoms often appear after arrival during distribution. Look for surface pitting, darkened calyx, seed browning, and water-soaked patches. We never recommend 5°C for cabai rawit, even if a buyer asks for extra cold to “keep it fresh.” It backfires.
Practical takeaway: keep your setpoint at or above 8°C. Do not step down below 7°C at any time.
What fresh air exchange rate should I use?
Start at 15 m³/h. This flushes CO₂ and trace ethylene without over-drying or warming the load. If your unit reads in CFM, that is about 9 CFM. In shoulder seasons or if you see weight loss or shrivel, reduce to 10 m³/h. Avoid fully closed vents for chili. Closed vents increase off-odors and softening because the load cannot off-gas.
We’ve tested 25 m³/h on hot-season departures. It helps with heat load but increases dehydration and cool-down time. Our default is 15 m³/h for most lanes.
Practical takeaway: set FAE to 15 m³/h. Drop to 10 m³/h if RH is low or shrivel risk rises. Do not close the vent.
Should I ship on supply air or return air control?
Use supply air control. Return air control can hide warm returns caused by tight stacking or high FAE. The unit then drives supply air colder than you intend. That is when bottom tiers see 5 to 6°C spikes and you get chilling injury.
In 2024 and 2025 some carriers pushed energy saving profiles that cycle fans or bias control to return air. For chili this has caused uneven temperatures. We disable eco modes and lock to supply air with continuous fans.
Practical takeaway: supply air control. Continuous fans. Eco modes off.
What humidity setting helps prevent shriveling or decay?
Run high humidity. You do not need to set RH on most containers. With dehumidification off and a well-sealed load, you will see 90 to 95 percent RH inside the cartons. That limits water loss and calyx shrivel.
If your chili is arriving with moisture on walls or wet cartons, the cause is usually condensation rather than high RH. Water condenses when warm product meets cold air. Solve the temperature mismatch rather than drying the air. Dehumidification settings tend to over-dry the load and do not fix root-cause condensation.
Practical takeaway: dehumidification off. Keep carton liners perforated but present. Target a naturally high RH near 90 to 95 percent.
How should I pre-cool chili and the container before stuffing?
- Product pre-cooling. Forced-air cool the chili to 9 to 10°C within 6 to 8 hours of harvest. Hydrocooling is not recommended for chili due to pathogen risks. If you cannot forced-air cool, at least stage in a 10°C room overnight before stuffing.
- Container pre-cool. Run the empty reefer at 8°C for minimum 2 hours with the door closed. Confirm supply and return stabilize within 0.5 to 1.0°C of setpoint.
- Pulp verification. Probe at least five cartons per lot. Aim for 8.5 to 9.5°C average pulp. If average pulp exceeds 12°C, delay loading. Warm loads drive condensation and claims.
I’ve found that when shippers skip forced-air cooling and rely on the container to pull down product, they create a dew point trap. The air cools first and the warm chili surface sweats. That moisture feeds soft rot. Avoid it at all costs.
Practical takeaway: pre-cool both product and container. Load only when the average pulp is at 8.5 to 9.5°C.
How do I avoid condensation and water-soaked chili on arrival?
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Keep temperature steps small. Do not swing from a 25°C packing shed to an 8°C container. Stage the load in a 10 to 12°C ante-room for 60 to 90 minutes if your packing area is very warm.
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Dry packaging. Use dry pallets and cartons. Moisture content of wooden pallets should be under 20 percent. Wet wood is a condensation magnet.
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Vent alignment. Ensure 6 to 8 percent open vent area on cartons and align vertical vents to create chimneys. Leave 12 to 15 cm headspace to the ceiling. Do not push cartons into the ceiling baffles.
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No floor blockage. Keep the T-floor fully open. No slipsheets blocking the first meter. Use a V-shaped air deflector at the front if your pallets sit short of the bulkhead.
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Film liners. Use perforated PE liners inside cartons. About 0.5 to 1 percent perforation area keeps RH high and reduces drip.
One non-obvious tip. Put an extra data logger inside a mid-load carton near the floor on the second pallet from the front. If that spot stays within 1.5°C of setpoint, your airflow is right. If it reads 2.5°C colder than setpoint, you likely have return air bias or blocked chimneys.
Practical takeaway: manage dew point by stepping temperatures, keep packaging dry, and preserve airflow paths. Measure it with loggers, not guesses.
A few advanced notes shippers ask us about
- Vented carton percentage. Aim for 6 to 8 percent total open area. Less than 5 percent slows pull-down and causes bottom-tier cold spots. More than 10 percent increases drying.
- Ethylene sensitivity. Chili is moderately sensitive. Avoid co-loading with high ethylene producers like ripe bananas or mature green fruit that will color on route. Tomatoes are a classic problem when ripening in transit.
- Co-loading with cabbage. Not recommended. Cabbage wants 0 to 1°C and will suffer at 8 to 9°C. Odor transfer is also a risk. If you must, keep lots separate with pallets of neutral goods, but the temperature mismatch still makes it a bad idea.
- Middle East lanes. For Jakarta or Surabaya to Jebel Ali or Dammam at 10 to 14 days, we set 8.5°C supply air, 15 m³/h FAE, continuous fans. We keep the same on return legs to avoid crew resetting to return air control.
- Duration at 8 to 10°C. With good quality fruit you can hold 14 to 21 days. Quality declines faster past 2 weeks regardless of temperature.
The biggest mistakes we still see in 2025
- Loading warm fruit. The container is not your pre-cooler. It leads to condensation and decay.
- Using return air control or eco modes. This creates over-cooling at the bottom and warm returns at the top.
- Setting 5 to 6°C to “be safe.” That is a chilling injury trap for cabai rawit.
- High FAE to fight heat. 25 m³/h sounds good but can dry and warm the load. Fix the heat at the source with pre-cooling and airflow.
If your lane has quirks, like a long yard dwell or repeated power interruptions, we are happy to sanity check your setup. Need help tuning your numbers to a specific vessel schedule or port pair, just reach out via WhatsApp.
Final checklist before you close the doors
- Product pulp at 8.5 to 9.5°C. Check five cartons per lot.
- Reefer pre-cooled to 8°C. Supply air control. Continuous fans. Dehumidification off. Eco modes off.
- FAE at 15 m³/h. Reduce to 10 m³/h if shrivel risk.
- Vents aligned. 6 to 8 percent carton open area. T-floor clear.
- Three data loggers set and placed.
- Loading completed within 30 to 45 minutes per container to avoid warming.
This is the playbook we use every week on Indonesian chili programs. It is not theory. It is what keeps claims to a minimum and repeat orders strong. If you want to see the range of export vegetables we handle with the same cold-chain discipline, you can also View our products.