Egypt isn’t particularly known for its stone fruit production. Evagro is one of the few Egyptian companies that is involved with this type of fruit and the new season is expected to start at the end of March.
Emad El Din Ahmed of Evagro sees great opportunities for the Egyptian stone fruit season, as the Spanish season is forced to kick off two weeks later. This gives Evagro a great advantage with regards to the UK market.
“We’ve been growing peaches and nectarines for ten years now. There aren’t many stone fruit growers in Egypt and our company is the largest. We’re based close to Sadat city, near the Alex Desert Road,” explains Ahmed.
Evagro has increased its production by 20% thanks to good weather conditions. For the last couple of years, acreage has remained the same, though production volumes did increase as the trees have matured more, which led to an increased yield. The company currently uses of 80 hectares for peaches and 15 hectares for nectarines. The main markets for Egyptian stone fruit are the UK and countries in the Middle East like Kuwait and Dubai.
Loquat
Five years ago, Evagro started with the production of loquat. The market for this type of fruit has relatively few competitors, though the market does prefer loquat from Lebanon. The company currently produces a large volume of 100 tons. The season takes off by mid of March, right before the season for stone fruit.
“The season of Lebanon for loquat coincides with our campaign, which makes Lebanon our main competitor. The current prices for loquats are around $0.70 to $0.80 (€0.66 to €0.75).
The European growing areas of Spain and Italy have been hit hard by the winter frost. This could have been a great opportunity for more export from Egypt to Europe. However, most Egyptian growers haven’t been able to capitalize on this situation due the use of fixed contracts, which limits any excess production.
“This is a great opportunity for Egypt to prove itself to European importers. We should improve our production in order to compete against Spain. The Egyptian government and the export council are currently surveying the use of pesticides by growers. Our products should be clean, if we want to impress the European market,” concludes Ahmed.
For more information:
Emad Ahmed Salem
Evagro (Egypt)
Tel: 00202-23992700
Mob: 00201-277893005
Email: [email protected]
www.evagro.com
Emad El Din Ahmed of Evagro sees great opportunities for the Egyptian stone fruit season, as the Spanish season is forced to kick off two weeks later. This gives Evagro a great advantage with regards to the UK market.
“We’ve been growing peaches and nectarines for ten years now. There aren’t many stone fruit growers in Egypt and our company is the largest. We’re based close to Sadat city, near the Alex Desert Road,” explains Ahmed.
Evagro has increased its production by 20% thanks to good weather conditions. For the last couple of years, acreage has remained the same, though production volumes did increase as the trees have matured more, which led to an increased yield. The company currently uses of 80 hectares for peaches and 15 hectares for nectarines. The main markets for Egyptian stone fruit are the UK and countries in the Middle East like Kuwait and Dubai.
Loquat
Five years ago, Evagro started with the production of loquat. The market for this type of fruit has relatively few competitors, though the market does prefer loquat from Lebanon. The company currently produces a large volume of 100 tons. The season takes off by mid of March, right before the season for stone fruit.
“The season of Lebanon for loquat coincides with our campaign, which makes Lebanon our main competitor. The current prices for loquats are around $0.70 to $0.80 (€0.66 to €0.75).
The European growing areas of Spain and Italy have been hit hard by the winter frost. This could have been a great opportunity for more export from Egypt to Europe. However, most Egyptian growers haven’t been able to capitalize on this situation due the use of fixed contracts, which limits any excess production.
“This is a great opportunity for Egypt to prove itself to European importers. We should improve our production in order to compete against Spain. The Egyptian government and the export council are currently surveying the use of pesticides by growers. Our products should be clean, if we want to impress the European market,” concludes Ahmed.
For more information:
Emad Ahmed Salem
Evagro (Egypt)
Tel: 00202-23992700
Mob: 00201-277893005
Email: [email protected]
www.evagro.com