The most important agricultural crops exported include rice, grains, onions, garlic, potatoes, vegetables, fruits, Egyptian citrus fruits, and peanuts, for which Russia, Saudi Arabia, Britain, and the United Arab Emirates are the most important markets for these Egyptian exports.
Egypt’s food industry exports totaled $3.1 billion in the first nine months of this year, up from the $2.8 billion in the same period of 2020. This amounts to a 19% year-on-year increase and ranking third among other Egyptian sectors exporting to foreign markets, Trade and Industry Minister Nevine Gamea stated on Sunday.
During a recent speech, which came on behalf of Egypt’s Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouly, Gamea said that Egypt’s exports of agricultural crops in the first nine months of 2021 hit $1.9 billion, compared to the $1.8 billion achieved in the same period last year, recording an 8% increase.
Egypt’s Food Industry Export Council aims to increase the Egyptian dates exports to over USD 100 million by 2024, advancing from the USD 40 million in revenue last year.
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Mohammed Al-Karsh, head of the council’s dates working group, said work was underway with the Egyptian General Authority for Standardization and Quality to define specifications and standards for Egyptian dates and their by-products.
The focus of the export expansion will be the European and South American markets, which currently buy around 44,000 tonnes a year of the Egyptian fruit. New species, such as Al-Medjoul and Al-Barhi dates, are being cultivated to obtain more suitable products for exports.
According to a study on the per capita consumption of orange citrus and fruits in Central Europe during the last 15 years, specifically in the Netherlands, Belgium, Luxembourg, Germany, and Austria, there has been an increase in the consumption of bananas, watermelons, pineapples, avocado, and mango. Meanwhile, the evolution of mandarins, melons, oranges, peaches, and nectarines has not been so positive.
Consumption of mandarins and melons has dropped slightly. These products could be in a simple phase of stagnation; however, oranges, peaches, and nectarines have experienced a very steep decline.
“Oranges are a historical product with few novelties at the varietal level because 95% of them are of the Navel or Valencia type. They can be compared to bananas because they are well known by consumers. However, there are two major marketing differences between oranges and bananas,” stated Paco Borras Escriba, the senior consultant in agri-food and associative issues, in an article published in Italia fruit. “Oranges have no well-established brand because almost all distribution chains impose their own brands. In other words, there are many private brands so their advertising isn’t similar to the advertising carried out by banana brands.”
“The second difference is that Spain, which produces 60% of the oranges consumed in winter in Europe, has not carried out any promotional and advertising campaign for the past 12 years. Neither have Italy and Greece, the other two EU countries that produce oranges and that have the possibility of accessing community funds to boost the consumption of European products.”
“Egypt or Morocco could promote their oranges in the middle of the European campaign, which would be a strong blow for Spanish and Italian producers, as it would mean they would have lost an important opportunity,” the consultant stressed.
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Egypt has become the world’s largest exporter of valencia orange, taking the position away from Spain. Even though 95% of Egypt’s surface is desert, the country has nearly 168,000 hectares of orange trees spread through its arid geography as if they were a mirage; and not only in areas of the Nile delta, since 60% of them are located in reclaimed desert areas.
The orange is the most cultivated citrus in the country, accounting for 80% of the total citrus production, and the Valencia variety is, by far, the most planted variety.
“In recent years, Spanish producers have not shown much interest in the Valencia variety. They have preferred to plant easy-to-peel citrus fruits, while producers in Egypt opted to plant more oranges, mostly of the Valencia variety,” stated Mahmud Shishini, the commercial director of Mafa, one of the most thriving agricultural companies in Egypt.
His company received support from Israeli agricultural experts after the 1979 peace agreement between the two countries and was the company that, three decades ago, introduced the seed of the Valencia orange that the country currently grows.
“It is a type of orange that is distinguished by its good quality and that is much cheaper than other varieties,” says Abdelkader Hasan, owner of a major agricultural export company. A combination of factors explains the success of this type of citrus in what was once barren land. “For starters, it is a seed that everyone knows and knows how to plant. In addition, it is a simple and very durable variety. The third factor is that the climate here is ideal. Finally, Spain can have a limited space to grow this fruit, but if we have water we can plant it in hundreds if not thousands of hectares. It is an investment model that is easy to replicate,” says Shishini.
In 2019, the last year for which there are records, Egypt shipped around 1.8 million tons of oranges abroad, slightly more than Spain, according to data from the International Trade Center, a joint agency of the World Trade Organization and United Nations. Both, however, are a long way from the third-largest producer, South Africa.
The main markets for Egyptian oranges are Russia, Saudi Arabia, China, the Netherlands – considered the door to Europe – and the United Arab Emirates. In the last year, however, the Arab country has achieved new markets for its oranges, which have reached destinations as diverse as Brazil, New Zealand, or Japan.
Brazil opened its market to citrus fruits from Egypt as a result of a Mercosur-Egypt free trade agreement, which includes Brazil, Argentina, Uruguay, and Paraguay. According to estimates by the Brazilian Arab Chamber of Commerce, the Egyptian orange could lead the Brazilian market within two years.
