Competition between Egyptian fresh mango exporters heats up at mid-season."Supply is huge this year, and so is demand. We're happy with the level of demand and the reasonable prices," says Amr Kadah, export manager at Fruit.Farm.
"There are certainly a lot of mangoes in Egypt this year. We usually produce a volume of around two million tonnes nationwide. and volume has increased significantly this season. The acreage exceeds 100 thousand hectares, and mangoes come after citrus in the podium of fruit exports," says Kadah.
On the other hand, the market is just as huge, says Kadah: "Egyptian mangoes are shipped to over 50 countries. Last season, over 60,000 tons were exported fresh from Egypt, and over 150,000 tons frozen.
We benefit from a different seasonality window than our competitors, and a geographical location that considerably reduces our transport costs and transit time to all the giants of this crop's markets: the Gulf countries, Europe, and Russia."
Kadah disagrees with his fellow exporters who complain that demand is not up to expectations: "Yes, we need to change our packaging and marketing methods and live up to the importance the sector is gaining. Yes, we need to strengthen our position in our current markets, add value to our premium mangoes, and open up new markets. But I disagree that demand and prices aren't there this season."
"How can we say there's no demand at a time when prices are US$ 750-800 FOB per tonne for fresh mangoes and US$ 700 EXW for frozen mangoes?" concludes Kadah.
For more information:
Amr Kadah
Fruit.Farm
Tel: +20 100 928 8377
Email: [email protected]
www.linkedin.com/in/amr-kadah
www.facebook.com/fruitfarm.egypt