Tohami Trading is an Egyptian company devoted to the export of limes and oranges during the winter period, from December to late March. 70% of Tohami corresponds to limes and the rest to oranges. “We are greatly satisfied with the results of the latest campaign. We exported some 260 thousand plates containing two quarters of lime each. Total shipments amounted to about 200 tonnes, of which about 160-170 corresponded to limes," affirms Chairman Mohammed Tohami.
Mr Tohami states that it has been a normal campaign, not only in terms of quality, but also volume. He assures that Egypt has the potential to meet a growing demand, since Tohami Trading has a very large area to expand the cultivation of limes and of citrus in general. “Competition is very tough, which is why we care about quality, packaging or the irrigation systems.”
As for destinations, most of the limes last season, and Egypt’s in general, went to Russia, but also to the Gulf Area and Eastern European markets. “Our advantage is that we are very close to Europe. A shipment to Italy by sea takes only three days, and then can be anywhere in Europe within 12 hours.”
The company has a small selection and packaging unit, where “we receive the limes from the farms, but only from those that are already registered, and we do a lot of quality control and inspections, also during the cultivation period.
For the next season, prospects are to improve the results achieved in the last one. “The only trouble is to find importers who care about quality, and not just about trying to squeeze the price, even if this has a negative impact on the quality or packaging. But as a matter of fact, our prices are better than Italy’s or Spain’s, even after adding shipping and packaging costs,” concludes Mr Tohami.
