The Egyptian strawberry season has started and it is expected that the season will be satisfying, with bigger volumes and good prices. Although Spain seems to have started slightly earlier this year, Egypt has the answer to that, according to Egyptian exporting company Green Tiba.
The popularity of Egyptian strawberries is rising, says Doaa Hegazy, export manager for the Green Tiba Group: “I expect this season to be important for Egypt, as we have more volumes of good quality strawberries with very competitive prices. This has also resulted in bigger demand of our strawberries across the globe. We mainly export our strawberries to Russia, Malaysia, the United Kingdom, South Africa and the Gulf countries.”
The world has recently learned that Spain has started with the strawberry season a bit ahead of schedule, which could have resulted in problems for Egypt. Hegazy claims there is nothing to be worried about: “The Egyptian strawberry season has started early this year as well, parallel with Spain. So their early start should have almost no effect on our season. On top of that our prices are more competitive than the Spanish prices. We do expect competition from Morocco, Greece and maybe a little from the Netherlands.”
While Egypt is still tied to its season, other countries seem to be moving towards a year round supply, by cultivating the strawberries in greenhouses. Hegazy doesn’t feel this will have an effect on them and is full of confidence. “We don’t face any pressure. The Egyptian strawberry is well-known thanks to its premium quality and good taste. Also our location enables us to export to a lot of destinations, which combined with the big local demand creates a healthy balance in strawberry production. Like I said earlier; we export our strawberries around the globe with air freight. We use air freight due to the short shelf life of the strawberries and the sensitivity of the product. It doesn’t even add to the price as losses would happen if we send out the strawberries by sea.”
For more information:
Doaa Hegazy
Green Tiba Group
Tel: +20 1000 757 719
Email: Sales@greentiba.com
www.greentiba.com