The Egyptian citrus season has started and the lemons have been performing well, says Jana Fresh business development manager Ibrahim Gadallah: “With the spark of the citrus season for this year, we were full of enthusiasm and hope that this season would be better than the one before. Luckily, this is exactly what seems to be occurring. The start of the citrus season, with lemons, was really good from all aspects. Price, volumes and proportions of sizes and last but not least; the quality was all we needed to find no difficulties in marketing our products.”
Despite smaller sizes for Navels, Jana Fresh is aiming for a 20% increase in terms of export volumes, Gadallah explains. “The beginning of Navel was a little slow to some extent, because of the small sizes of the crop. For the first time in many years, we see the sizes 100, 113 and 125 in Navel. Generally, markets are not used to these sizes for Navel, however thanks to the diversity of the markets in which we operate, we managed to handle all sizes and market them accordingly. As for the exported volume compared to last season, we also seem to perform well. Numbers indicate that we will achieve a growth rate in the volume of our exports by about 20% this year, and this is the target, which we can even exceed if all continues to go well. We still have many clients who ask for more of our production.”
Gadallah is happy to see that prices are increasing slightly, but feels they should be rising even more, given the product that Egyptian exporters deliver to the market: “Prices have maintained the same level as last year or achieved some slight increase, but we hope that prices will improve more than that. Egyptian oranges and citrus fruits in general deserve a much better price if compared to the prices and quality of other producers. Given its quality and distinctive taste, the Egyptian orange still has a long way to go to achieve a fair price. Here, I would like to urge all Egyptian exporting companies to make that goal a national goal, I also hope that everyone would stay away from practices that lead to a decrease in the price of our products.”
“We sell our produce almost all over the world. Russia is at the top of our list, then Europe, West and Central Africa, Southeast Asia, the Far East and the Arab Gulf countries. What gives us advantage in these markets is our good relations with well-reputed importers, who consider us best option for them. We have already built a good name in these markets, our customers know that our products are worth money they paid for them.”
With a new packhouse being built, Jana Fresh is getting in shape for an even more productive future, Gadallah says: “For the year 2023, our first goal is to inaugurate our new packhouse, which is currently being built on an area of 42,000 square meters, with a total processing capacity of 350 tons per day in phase 1, and a cold storage capacity of 3000 pallets. However, the second phase will double this capacity. We have been keen to plan a packhouse that is equipped with and employs the latest technology in this field. It will also comply with almost all food safety requirements and protocols. As for our second goal, which comes as a result of our first goal, is to double the volume of our exports. With the inauguration of the new packhouse at the beginning of the next season, we will be able to export twice the quantity that we do now.”
For more information:
Ibrahim Gadallah
Jana Fresh
Tel: +20 100 366 9486
Email: [email protected]
www.janafresh.com