"The supply of grapes in Europe in the last 3 months has been exceptionally high, with record volumes from India and South Africa, Peru being part of the mix and resurgent volumes from Chile, which largely all arrived in a very severe peak around the end of February which has caused market problems right until now," explains Fady Adly from Capespan Egypt. "On a positive side, the consumer has been eating a lot more grapes than normal and supermarkets have been promoting grapes each week, but of course prices have been very low which will make it harder for Egypt to enter the season at normal levels."
The first fruit will arrive in Europe in week 20. Capespan will be involved in around 450/500 containers of grapes from Egypt in 2017, of which at least 100 should be via Capespan Egypt. The company expects the very first Prime to be packed the week of the 15th May."Everything is looking very good, if a few days later than we would like and crop production is definitely higher than in 2016," comments Mr Adly. "Capespan will send grapes under the Cape brand to all destinations available to Egypt - Africa, Middle East and Europe. The Chinese market has also opened this year for Egyptian grapes. Capespan is a shareholder in Joy Wing Mau, one of China’s leading import companies. We are planning to open this market with some new initiatives."
"We work with about 17 growers to whom we offer a range of programmes for working together, from our UK office and office in Antwerp, as well as Capespan Egypt. Most of them are very interested in our non EU shipments and that’s where Capespan Egypt offers a very interesting alternative. We pack under the Cape brand and other Capespan brands and work in existing and up and coming markets. As Capespan Egypt we work with a small number of retailers and importers in Europe directly where it enables us to achieve a wider distribution."
Mr Adly said that by working with the best growers and growers that commit a large proportion or even all of their grapes to Capespan in various parts of the world they can maintain consistency and value. "We also have a very strong and stable technical team which has been working in Egypt for the last 10 years, partly based in Egypt year round and partly coming in for the season from South Africa and Europe."
Capespan enjoys a very strong history in Egypt and with an export company based there can maintain very good supplier relations. The company helps growers with their packing and have some very good retail programmes to pack for. They offer growers plenty of alternatives to suit their requirements and capabilities and the Cape brand offers a stand out option for the new and developing countries and many retailers in Europe and elsewhere.
For more information:
Fady Adly
Capespan (Egypt)
Skype: fady50002000
Tel: +20 222 687 688
Mobile: +20 111 3444 557
E-mail: [email protected]
www.capespan.eu