The season for fresh dry garlic in Egypt has started, and the upcoming weeks will be busy for the garlic traders. Due to a lack of hot weather, it took a bit longer to properly dry the fresh garlic. This means the entire season will now be crammed in just a couple of weeks. One exporter says their experience will get them through it.
According to Mai Yassin, export manager for Egyptian produce trader Stars of Export, there are less volumes for fresh dry garlic this season: “The previous fresh dry garlic season was quite a bit better in terms of volumes, however for us the season will generally be the same as last year. We have our stable garlic traders who have a contract with us. There’s also a political situation in Taiwan right now, where they have large quantities of their own production and try to reduce any entries of foreign garlic.”
As the garlic took longer to dry due to a lack of hot weather in Egypt, Stars of Export is preparing for a busy couple of weeks, Yassin explains. “It’ll be a real challenge to deliver all of our orders within very short time frames, as the weather in Egypt wasn’t hot enough to dry the garlic on time for an easy season. Clients meanwhile, all want their garlic delivered around the same period, so we have a lot of work in the upcoming weeks. We overcome this by increasing our hand workers. However, our experience will also help during this period, as we’re used to relying on what we know during rush times.”
The fresh dry garlic season will finish within a few weeks, after which the exporter will immediately shit its focus towards another product: “Like I said earlier, fresh dry garlic volumes are lower overall, compared to last year. When it comes to fresh green garlic, there's more production this year. But, despite lower volumes for fresh dry garlic, we won’t see lower returns thanks to our stable contracts. We’ll be finishing the fresh dry garlic season within the next few weeks, after which we’ll start to prepare for our sweet potatoes.” Yassin concludes.
For more information:
Mai Yassin
Stars of Export
Tel: +20 111 012 1741
Email: export@starsofexport.com
www.starsofexport.com