In Egypt, there are mostly two pomegranate varieties: the Wonderful, whose season lasts from mid-September to late October or early November, and the Baladi, which according to Mr Ayman Bayoumy, Export Director of the Egyptian company Fruit Link, does not have as strong a skin as the Wonderful, but has, in fact, a better taste. “The look of the Baladi is not as good as that of the Wonderful, as the outside colouration of the Wonderful is better,” he explains. Furthermore, “the price of the Baladi is also lower,” making it ideal for times of market uncertainty.
In terms of quality, he affirms that there have been no significant changes compared to last season. “It has maybe been a little better, because the hot weather came earlier this year. Last year, we started exporting the Wonderful by late September; this year, the good quality Wonderful has been available from the 15th,” which is good, as it makes it possible to meet the needs of customers from Bangladesh, which are mostly wholesalers.
Fruit Link exports by both air and by sea, depending on the destination. “We export by air to the Seychelles, Maldives or Mauritius because of the long distances and by sea to Singapore, Malaysia, and Hong Kong and mostly to Bangladesh and Russia, although the latter recently imposed a ban on Egyptian fresh produce imports but that has been lifted today,” he affirms.
In this regard, he assures that “it is not the first time that we have to face such restrictions,” and they are confident it will be solved in the short or medium term. All in all, “we expect to ship a total of about 700 tonnes during the entire pomegranate season.”
