© Toro FruitThe first South African strawberries of the season arrived in Dubai last week after a nerve-racking start, a week later than last year, which is no mean feat given the obstacles in their way.
Right: South African strawberries in a Dubai supermarket, 2025
"Unless there's a quick resolution to the war, it will have a major impact on strawberry prices and the volumes that will leave South Africa," says Marilyn Bull of Toro Fruit. Some airlines, like Etihad Airways, have not resumed their routes to South Africa, while the airports of Kuwait, Beirut, and Bahrain remain closed.
"Flights to the region remain extremely limited, and air freight is $1.30 - $1.50/kg higher than during February this year. Emirates, for example, which used to operate two daily flights from Cape Town and four out of Johannesburg, currently only has one flight per day from Cape Town and 3 from Johannesburg."
Space on Qatar Airways has to be booked at least two weeks in advance due to high demand and limited space, while Ethiopian Airlines only flies to Dubai, Riyadh, and Jeddah.
The extreme fluidity of the situation means that the information as presented here pertains to the picture on the ground (and in the air) as of 16 April 2026. "Just earlier this week, I told growers that there are still no flights to Oman, and as I'm doing that, it's been announced that flights will resume."
© Toro Fruit
Jordanian greenhouse-grown strawberries pose competition
A significantly stronger Rand than this time last year, coupled with air freight that is almost double for vastly reduced cargo space: these factors, along with those countries where the airspace remains closed, will doubtless be palpable in terms of the volumes and pricing of export strawberries this year, Bull observes.
"The demand for strawberries is on the rise, although there are still strawberries from Morocco, Egypt, Ethiopia, Jordan, Turkey, and the United States available in the United Arab Emirates, trading at very low prices," she says. Jordanian greenhouse-grown strawberries lengthen their season, bringing them into direct competition with South African strawberries and impacting prices.
The festival of Eid al-Adha falls on 27 to 30 May this year, usually with an uptick in strawberry demand and pricing during the preceding week. "Many clients do not want any strawberries in the period directly following the festival, which would be roughly 31 May to 6 June, and we are advising local growers to fix promotions in local retail to tide them over during that period."
© Toro Fruit
For more information:
Marilyn Bull
Toro Fruit
Email: [email protected]
https://torofruit.com/
