One month into the Egyptian sweet potato season, demand is high and stable, but prices are decreasing. "It's quite normal for prices to fall at this stage of the season," says Zayed Lasheen, CEO of AfriGoodGrows.
The exporter states: "Egyptian sweet potato production is abundant this season, with volumes up by almost a third on the previous season. Usually, only the harvest from the Kafr Sheikh region should be available at this time of the season, with the Damietta crop arriving later, around December. This year, Damietta's harvest arrived much earlier, which meant that the supply is large right from the start of the season".
The early start to the campaign from Damietta also offers a good distribution of sizes, stimulating demand, adds Zayed. "Production there is on a bigger scale than other regions, giving us a lot more L1, L2, and XL sizes, which are the most in-demand."
Demand for Egyptian sweet potatoes is unusually high for the summer, according to Zayed: "Demand isn't usually very high in the summer, but we're seeing that sweet potatoes are doing very well. More and more consumers are convinced of the nutritional value of sweet potatoes, including younger consumers. I was delighted to hear the staff of the Spanish football team share that the players eat over 40 kg of sweet potatoes a day, and it's also our role as an industry to help promote this superfood to a larger consumer base".
Demand comes mainly from England and the Netherlands, according to Zayed, followed by France, Italy, Spain, and Eastern Europe. Unsurprisingly, the most popular varieties are Bellevue and Beauregard, in medium size. The exporter adds that the golf market is slower than usual.
Despite unabated demand, prices have fallen since the start of the season. Zayed shares, "Size M (150-300g) started the season at 4 EUR CIF Rotterdam per 6kg box and is now at 3 EUR. L1 (300-450g) has dropped from 5 to 4 EUR. L2 (450-600g) and XL (+600g) went from 5.5 to 4.25".
"It's normal for prices to fall, and there are several reasons for this. Firstly, supply is smaller at the start of the season. Secondly, exporters without curing facilities are liquidating their stocks as fast as they can. I think that prices for Egyptian sweet potatoes will continue to decrease until their stocks are exhausted. Prices will then rise gradually towards the end of the season."
The exporter confides, "Many exporters are joining the sweet potato sector, and still lack experience and knowledge in the business of this particularly sensitive crop. So they send out large volumes as quickly as they can, without much attention to selection and packing. As a result, they receive complaints, and this also contributes to lower prices. Later in the season, when these new entrants exit the market, customers will continue to work with trusted and experienced exporters, ourselves at AfriGoodGrows included."
Zayed says his team is ready to meet demand: "We've just launched a new packaging facility and will unveil our new sweet potato brand in a few weeks. It's the fruit of over 3 years of effort. Three years ago, we launched the "Good Roots" project, which involves providing small-scale growers with technical support and training in good farming practices and operations. This project covers 40 ha in Kafr Sheikh and 72 ha in Damietta, and has enabled us to source better quality in terms of colour and size".
The exporter concludes, "We believe in the potential of sweet potatoes in Egypt. On the international map of this crop, we see that Spain has high costs and a water shortage. Honduras also suffers from an adverse climate. Production in South Africa and Portugal is still on a small scale. As for the United States, we're taking market share from them every year. Clearly, Egypt will be one of the biggest origins of sweet potatoes in the future."
For more information:
Zayed Lasheen
AfriGroodGrow
Tel: +420 739 019 060
Email: [email protected]
www.afrigoodgrow.com