According to Yassin Ahmed, owner and chairman of the company Stars of Export, specializes in garlic and all kinds of onions “The quality is better than last year, since the weather has been good. Our spring onions are supplied to the hospitality trade, supermarkets and wholesalers."
The company exported mainly to Germany, the Netherlands and England, where the indoor season doesn’t usually start until April (in the case of England) and late March (in the case of the former). These European markets currently receive about 5 containers weekly and sometimes 6 containers per week.
Yassin says that demand from these destinations increases every year, “Since the quality of our Egyptian spring onions, grown in Upper Egypt and our lands in Ismailia is much preferred in Europe and, as a result, the company’s acreage is continuously expanding.”
As regards garlic, he explains that the main varieties marketed by the firm are the fresh green white, fresh green purple, dry purple and dry white. “Demand for our garlic comes from those interested in the Chinese purple garlic (dry and fresh) mainly because of our price and because we offer big sizes with less pesticides. Our purple garlic comes from Chinese seeds planted in Egypt many years ago.”
What is great for Stars of Export is that not only is its acreage expanding, but opportunities for its product range are also opening in new markets, like Australia.
“We started only last year, because they already liked our dry garlic, where we started last year shipping dry purple garlic. Last season we shipped 50 tonnes there and this year we’ll probably reach 150 tonnes. This year we’ll have special packaging and certifications and we’ll aim to make it a better success.”
