Polish apple exporters have been seeing difficulties getting their produce in the country, as the Egyptian central bank is not accepting any imports.
Mohamed Marawan, owner of Polish apple exporter Sarafruit, says this issue has still not been resolved: “As our company exports the apples to Egypt as our main market, it is very important for us that the issues with the Egyptian central bank, which is ensuring we are not able to export our apples to Egypt at the moment. This has to do with the currency issue. We’re looking into alternatives to at least get the process going. For example, we’re looking into trading produce rather than paying for it. This would mean we get shipments of onions, for example, and in return we would be able to send our apples to Egypt. It’s not an ideal situation and we still have hopes that it will improve, so that we are able to conduct business in a normal way.”
Marawan states they he expects harvest in Sarafruit’s orchards to begin in two weeks’ time. One of the challenges will be to find the right amount of workers for the right price.
“Our orchards are doing very well. There are some orchards that have rather dry conditions due to a lack of rain, but in other orchards this problem is solved with an irrigation system. In two weeks from now, our harvest will get started, with the early Gala variety. The trees and apples are looking very healthy, so we’re looking forward to a solid harvest of apples. However, obtaining all the required labour is challenging. Prices for workers are high and labour is hard to find. Not impossible, but it’s not as easy as deciding you want workers and having them work on your farm the next day. The search for workers is a hard one, but as of now it is still doable.”
With the increase of energy costs, some apple growers and exporters could get in trouble trying to store their apples in cold rooms. Sarafruit will not have this issue, Marawan explains: “As a company, we don’t store our apples in cold rooms for extended periods of time. We only store them during the harvest, but then sell them directly from the farm to our clients. The costs of storing produce in cold rooms is so high, that’s it’s honestly not worth it. For us, it’s harvest, sort and send to their destination!”
For more information:
Mohamed Marawan
Sarafruit
Tel: +48 537 935 155
Email: office@sarafruit.eu
www.sarafruit.eu