Egyptian mango production is recovering after a difficult season last year, due, in particular, to weather conditions. Walaa Elhabbal, general manager of Overview Trading Company describes the situation.
Walaa said, "We had a difficult season last year, due to the sudden and sharp fluctuations in temperature, from high degrees during the day to low degrees at night. Mango is a fruit that is particularly sensitive to quick thermal variations. This caused last year a drop in yield from the usual 200 tons per feddan to only 120 tons."
However, this year the production conditions are improving. According to the producer: "The climatic problem persists but to a lesser extent, and yield is expected to increase to 160-180 tons."
Egyptian mango production is also facing tough competition from other origins such as India, Pakistan, Kenya, and Tanzania. "This is due to the fact that we share the same markets with these origins, mainly the Gulf countries and southern Europe. As for Saudi Arabia for example, one of our largest markets, Pakistan is geographically closer which reduces their costs."
Yet, we know that our customers in Saudi Arabia prefer Egyptian quality by far, due to its better gustative and aesthetic characteristics. It is well known that Egyptian mango quality is superior to our competition and as soon as we enter the market, our customers in the Gulf countries turn to us."
The preference for Egyptian quality is also explained by its compliance with the "best production and marketing standards", according to Walaa: "We have all the certifications required by the European market, which also meet the highest requirements of our customers in the golf countries, and consistently supply fruit with pesticide residue levels required in Europe or elsewhere."
"Our late production, with export calendars available from August to December, also favors our position in the market when many of the other origins have ended their calendars. We also have a very well developed varietal choice, of about twenty varieties including mainly Kent and Yasmina, coming directly from our own production or from producers that we select in Egypt," concludes the producer.
For more information
Walaa Elhabbal
Overview Trading Company
Tel: +20 150 146 4725
Email: [email protected] / [email protected]
www.overview-trading.com