Tunisia's date harvest reached a historic high in the 2025/2026 season, with 404,000 tons, including 347,000 tons of the Deglet Nour variety, according to Ezzeddine Ben Cheikh, Tunisia's Minister of Agriculture. This is the first time that Tunisian date production has exceeded the 400,000-tonne threshold, and comes after a particularly difficult 2024/2025 season.
© Walid Gaddas
According to Walid Gaddas, CEO of Stecia International, the recovery of the Tunisian date sector is mainly due to a marked improvement in weather conditions in the country, as well as a significant increase in the area devoted to date cultivation, with new palm trees reaching full production this season.
"We are potentially heading for record export volumes as well this season. Significant work has been done to diversify markets and support exporters in order to accompany this recovery in production," Gaddas continues.
© Walid Gaddas
Stecia International is tasked, as part of the Program to Support Competitiveness and Market Access – Agriculture and Processing Industries (PACE-AMIT), with supporting Tunisian date exporters in their quest to open up new markets. In this regard, Gaddas states, "Together with the partners of the program, which is co-financed by the EU and Germany and implemented in Tunisia by the German Agency for International Cooperation (GIZ), we have been working for over a year with Tunisian exporters to help them diversify their markets."
"We facilitated the participation of a group of exporters as exhibitors at Anuga, and we also organized a buyer mission last week in Tunisia, an opportunity for 14 buyers from nine countries to visit date production and packaging sites and sign contracts with exporters participating in the program," Gaddas continues.
© Walid Gaddas
The completion of the date harvest in Tunisia this season coincides with preparations for the month of Ramadan, which begins in mid-February, a period of high demand for dates. The increase in demand in several markets in North Africa, Europe, and Asia specifically concerns the Deglet Nour variety, the flagship of Tunisian date production.
However, this season's massive production requires additional outlets beyond traditional markets, according to Gaddas. He explains, "We must not limit ourselves to traditional markets, despite their importance. Exporting dates as a raw material offers significant commercial potential, which is why we invited industrialists and suppliers of processors to join the buyer mission. Dates can be used to make sugar, syrups, pastes, snacks, and many other by-products.
© Walid Gaddas
"With diversified markets and more focus on the date processing industry, we believe that record production will be followed by record export volumes," Gaddas concludes.
For more information:
Walid Gaddas
Stecia International
Tel: +21629325343
Email: [email protected]
www.stecia.com
