Pomegranates are one of the flagship products for Egyptian exporting companies. The rising popularity of exotic fruits and the growing importance of healthy products "can give a boost to the demand for pomegranates and we could benefit from that," points out Mohamed Gad, of Agrogad.
The North African country has already been exporting Wonderful and 116 pomegranates for about three weeks, but it will not be until a week later when it will start making the first shipments of its own variety: the Baladi. "We think it's a better variety than the Wonderful and the 116, both in terms of taste and Brix degrees. The only disadvantage is that its skin is not as firm and its appearance is not as pretty," explains the Agrogad representative.
The Egyptian company is still young, and this will be its first year exporting pomegranates. "We don't have our own farms yet, but we hope to obtain a volume of between 125 and 150 tonnes of Wonderful and Baladi pomegranates." It has been in contact with several countries for the promotion of its fruit, including Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia and Bangladesh, and there are some opportunities in Russia and Poland, as well as the Netherlands.
However, there are countries that could be strongly competitive at the international level. Spain, Israel and India are major producers of pomegranates, with years of experience and many contacts for the export of this product. "In any case, we believe that this season will be difficult for Israel, since the European Union prohibited the importation of certain products from Israel and pomegranates are one of them."
For more information:
Mohamed Gad
Agrogad
Tel.: +20 (0)2 38951527
Mob.: +201111123632