The Egyptian mango harvest has come about a month earlier than usual. According to Sammy A Nour from Roots Export, this is due to the extreme heat experienced this year. “Production capacity is expected to be 30-40% of last year’s volume, due to mangoes falling off the trees too early.”
Luckily Roots Export was not too much affected by the heat. “Thanks to our planning and the year-on-year acquisition of new farms, we have been able to secure all the ordered volumes for 2018, which is around 1,500 tons, with extra tonnage of 1,000 tons waiting for new orders. If we cannot export them, they will be sold on local markets.”
Sammy and Christiane Naumann at Macfruit
Mangoes are Root’s main specialty. The season is currently in full swing in Egypt. “We are exporting to the regional Middle Eastern countries like Lebanon, Dubai, Oman and Saudi Arabia. Smaller quantities are going to Singapore and Belgium.”
When it comes to developing new markets, Roots is most interested in Europe and South East Asia. “These are markets that we can be significantly competitive in due to our proximity to these markets. This helps to make our product cheaper; an effect which is further reinforced by the recent devaluation of the Egyptian pound.”
South American competition
Sammy thinks Egyptian mangoes could be a serious competitor to the South American heavyweights Brazil, Peru, Mexico and Ecuador, thanks to an open window Egypt has from early June to late September, just before Brazilians mangoes enter the European and North American markets in October. “The Asian markets are major mango producers as well, but their season runs from April till June. Besides, their varieties are very different.”
Export varieties
“The major export varieties are Kent, Tommy Atkins, R2E2, Keitt, Palmer, Haden, Shelly and Osteen, for their superior quality taste, fibre-free meat texture and good shelf life. Egyptians, as is the case with most fruits, prefer the sweeter more local varieties. These include Oweiss, Sedika, Fas, Alphonso, and Zibdia, which are also popular among Middle East Consumers, but not so much among European Consumers.”
“Egyptian production of the Keitt mango has increased tremendously over the years. By now, Egypt is the largest producer of mangoes in Africa with a production area of 132,100 hectares. This year we have already planted an additional 100 acres of the Kent, Tommy Atkins, Shelly, Palmer and Osteen mangoes on our own ABN Farms and contracted several other farms across Egypt. We want to increase production and expand Egypt's mango export volumes to meet the demand of our current and future customers.”
Ready-to-eat
“European Consumers are also very interested in ready-to-eat mangoes. Our job is to offer mature but not ripened mangoes to European Importers who have ripening chambers. We also deliver ready-to-eat mangoes by air to customers in Asia and Europe. Roots has recently joined forces with a local Egyptian company that uses recycled material to produce containers and recyclable plastic, which we have used with our supermarket chain deals in Asia.”
The ready-to-eat mangoes in sustainable packaging come in both single and double packaging
Roots Export offers a wide range of locally sourced fruits and vegetables for global markets, including a variety of grapes, oranges, lemons, mangoes, pomegranates, garlic, sweet potatoes, artichokes and iceberg lettuce. The company’s main goal is to develop MENA fresh produce markets by providing European quality specifications and improving the image of Egyptian fresh produce throughout European and Western Markets. The annual turnover of the company has gone from 320 tons in 2016 to 1,500 tons in 2017.
For more information:
Roots for Agricultural Export S.A.E.
+20114-523-3666