Asia Edition
It’s a frustrating time for Polish apple exporters who had Egypt as their main market. Mohamed Marawan, owner of Polish apple exporter Sarafruit, states there has been no progress with the situation in Egypt.
“We’re currently in the midst of harvesting our apples. We managed to finish picking all the Gala apples and are starting the harvest of the Golden varieties. Frustratingly, the situation for the upcoming season in terms of being able to export to Egypt had unchanged. Next week we will start sending some shipments where we are able, but overall the situation will remain exactly the same as last year, meaning we won’t be able to send our normal volumes to the Egyptian market. We really do hope this situation will change and return to normal during this season.”
Sarafruit will try to get rid of its stocks by the end of the year, so that the company can focus on the build of their new facilities, Marawan explains. “My main focus for this season will be to sell all of our production before the end of the year. We are at the beginning of building our new packing house and cooling chamber in Bialystok, which is in the Eastern part of Poland. I hope we’ll be able to finish it before the next season starts, and selling all of our stocks before the end of the year would help with that.”
As the production of apples in Poland is quite a bit lower this year, Marawan feels this is the perfect time to develop the quality of the product further: “The only opportunity I’m looking for is to be able to present a great quality Polish apple that can be competitive in both Europe and the Middle East. Thankfully, we really have possibilities to make this happen, we just need a little time. This year, with the Polish harvest being about 30 per cent lower, it will give the Polish growers the advantage to develop their crop further.”
“I’m very positive in general for this season, and the farmers have really worked very hard to continue their business and produce the apple that will be exported all over the world. I expect this season will be very good season to everyone who are dealing with apples in Poland, from the producers to exporters and also importers of Polish apples, because they will receive a great quality apple,” Marawan concludes.
For more information:
Mohamed Marawan
Sarafruit
Tel: +48 537 935 155
Email: office@sarafruit.eu
www.sarafruit.eu
