Egypt Strawberry Exports Are Expanding in Asia despite Tough Competition

Egypt's fresh and frozen strawberries are gaining ground in Asia. Egypt became the number one supplier of fresh strawberries to Malaysia in 2022, while at the same time to China for frozen strawberries. Still, as Tridge foresaw in a previous analysis, this has proven to be a difficult season for strawberry growers in Egypt, leading to increased farm gate prices, going up to USD 0.5/kg. Growers and traders are summarizing the results of Egypt's fresh strawberry harvest that concluded in April.

On the other hand, one of the main reasons for Egypt’s success in exporting strawberries to Asia is its ability to produce strawberries during the off-season. While many other countries produce strawberries during the summer, Egypt can produce strawberries during the winter months, allowing it to fill a gap in the market and meet the demand for strawberries year-round. The Malaysian market offers a window of opportunity for Egyptian traders before fresh strawberries from Australia, the US, and Korea (peak harvest from May to June), overcome the market. Trade of fresh strawberries shows a significant growth increase, although small in volume, compared to other countries that Egypt exports to. From 188MT in 2018 up to 546 MT in 2022, a 290.42% five-year growth.

China's volume of frozen strawberries imported from Egypt reached 19,724 MT in 2022, and its growth through five years is even more impressive and more than ten times larger since 2018. Despite a minor decrease in Egyptian shipments to China over the first three months of this year, volumes remain robust compared to previous campaigns. In terms of value, total frozen strawberry exports from Egypt recorded USD 47M in the first two months of 2023, according to the Food Expert Council (FEC). The ultimate results of the 2023 marketing year will be most visible in early autumn, as Egyptian frozen strawberry exports typically peak between March and October. One of the advantages of Egypt's strawberries is the constant month-over-month supply to China, in which the processing industry is growing, and local supply cannot meet the demand. Thus it turned to import quantities.

Going back to fresh strawberry production, Egyptian growers have coped with adverse weather since the start of the year, where extreme peaks in high and low temperatures took turns, adding sudden showers or rain. This forced farmers to intensify production, using more pesticides and fertilizers, ultimately leading to higher farm gate prices of USD 0.5/kg. Tridge expects Egypt to hold firm-gained positions in Asia regarding fresh and frozen export markets in 2023, despite increased production costs this season.