"In addition to the fact that production costs are too high, one of the many problems affecting our productions is the fact that markets are far away. What is more, commercial strategies keep us from reaching central and northern Europe. Other countries such as Spain can do much better, then there are the countries on the Mediterranean sea and north African countries such as Tunisia and Egypt," explains specialized agronomist Corrado Vigo in his blog.
"While the land dedicated to citrus fruit cultivation is dropping in Sicily, Egypt has invested a lot over the past 10-12 years, especially when it comes to citrus fruit."
"Thanks to a strong political action, road and port infrastructures were set up, so produce can be shipped via sea. What is more, expensive irrigation infrastructures were also set up to create water networks and watermakers, among the largest in the world. Groves have gone from 32,000-33,000 to 120-122 thousand."
Above and left: Egyptian citrus fruit on sale (for real-time juices) at Amsterdam airport one month ago.
"What should we expect for the future? An invasion of citrus fruit all over Europe, produced at a very low cost and distributed thanks to the Dutch, as the Netherlands are the main citrus fruit exporter in Europe."