In Egypt the spring onion season is just about to start, with the first harvests coming up in about 10 days. The season will be filled with activity, according to Khaled Shaker from Green Egypt. Europe’s onions are struggling due to the hot summer, but like Ukraine, Egypt is ready to step in.
Although the harvest of spring onions hasn’t even started yet, the produce of Egypt is already halfway out the door. “Europe has had a very hot summer, resulting in issues and shortages when it comes to the onions. We’ve already had several importers from Europe and specifically the UK push us to start harvesting our spring onions. It’s a little bit early for that, but it’s good to know our season will be in full swing right from the start,” Shaker from Green Egypt explains.
“After the initial ‘onion rush’ at the start of November we expect things will calm down for a bit. The market will be saturated and the sector will stabilize a little. But when Christmas time comes, the season will pick up again and we’ll be selling big volumes of our onions.”
Although we’re dealing with a huge demand from Europe, Khaled claims it won’t affect the prices as much. “We’ve made deals with our customers, therefore our prices are fixed. Of course we still have room for new customers and depending on the importance of hast, the market price might change for them. But even if the price doesn’t skyrocket due to demand, we have a stable income with our regular customers, which is just as good.” Shaker continues.
The biggest competition for Egyptian onions does not originate from abroad. Instead, there is a fierce competition between Egyptian growers themselves, all wanting to fill the gap that the European shortage has left wide open. “Besides the competition from Europe, we also have competitors in Senegal. We have complete faith in our own spring onions though, so we do not expect any difficulties on the market.”
For more information;
Khaled Shaker
Green Egypt
Cell: +2 01008187872
Tel: + (202) 24147537
Fax :+(202) 24170345
Email: Export@greenegypt.net
www.greenegypt.net