Morocco: Delassus plan return to Middle East
The group have been dealing with some of the Middle East countries for more than 15 years. "We used to send full vessels, loading up to 2500 tons every week. But since Egypt developed its citrus production, this volume kept decreasing," explained Fatiha Charrat, sales and marketing director. "As a matter of fact, we no longer have been able to load entire vessels. By using the container as a means of transport we were not able to arrive on time and in good condition as the transit time is about 30 to 45 days".
Fortunately, as from next season, a direct line will start from Tangier reaching Jbel Ali in 10 days. As the volume depends on the logistic side, Delassus plan to really increase their offer from this October. This will allow a positive and significant come back to this part of the world. The Moroccan Clementine enjoys a very good reputation and many importers want to receive it.
"As I said all the GCC countries are very keen to get the Moroccan easy peelers. The only problem we had so far was the lack of efficient transport means. Presently we are loading Afourer to Saudi Arabia. We are getting a very positive feed-back. We have fixed a quality approach at all levels of the production chain in order to ensure safe food that meets our customers' expectations in terms of taste and external aspect".
According to Ms Charrat, flavour is the main reason. "The Moroccan easy peelers are famous thanks to this exclusive aspect. Many of the orchards do still grow the tasty old varieties such as fina. Additionally the soil, the climate and the environment offer the right conditions for such specific flavour".
By end of October, Delassus will start with clementina fina and other varieties of Clementine. By December they will continue with the Nour and from February till end of March with the Afourer. "If the market allows it, we also load some navels. We use Maroc Select as a main brand. But we also use Leila or Marrakech."
For more information:
Fatiha Charrat
Delassus Group
Tel: +212 665 186 868
fatiha@delassus.com
www.delassus.com