Difficult campaign for Egyptian fresh strawberries
The season for fresh strawberries from Egypt began with high prices, estimated at double those of the previous season. However, just one to two weeks into the season, prices have plummeted.At the start of the season, growers were justifying price rises with a general increase in production costs. One grower said, « What marks the 2024/2025 season is the exaggerated increase in production costs, with several aggravating factors such as climate change, exchange rates, new European regulations on phytopharmaceutical products, reduction in acreage for fresh strawberries, etc… »
Amr Kadah, Export Manager at Fruit. Farm points out that « prices have fallen very quickly, two weeks into the season, due to abundant volumes in the face of insufficient demand for fresh strawberries. Prices have fallen by almost 70% compared with the start of the season. The damage is severe for growers, who suffered significant cost increases this season ».
According to Kadah, this situation has prompted many growers to turn away from the fresh produce sector and turn to freezing. He adds: « Freezing started as early as November 30, which is very odd. Usually, we don’t start freezing until January or February, after the end of the fresh strawberry campaign. »
On the other hand, the supply of frozen strawberries in Egypt is steadily increasing. According to Kadah, the area under strawberry cultivation has reached 55 thousand feddan this season (23100 ha), making Egypt the world’s leading exporter of frozen strawberries with 300 thousand tons by 2024. He continued, « Forecasts for exports in 2025 are up to 350 thousand tonnes, dominated by the Festival, Fortuna, Florida and Sweet Sensation varieties. »
« Despite stable volumes, growers are facing serious challenges such as climate change and rising production costs. We hope to see a pick-up in demand and a regularity in exports to avoid acute price fluctuations, » Kadah concludes.
For more information:
Amr Kadah
Fruit.Farm
Tel: +20 100 928 8377
Email: amr.kadah@mail.ru
www.linkedin.com/in/amr-kadah
www.facebook.com/fruitfarm.egypt
Frans and Li-Ang
