The prices for imported strawberries have been high, but the market has been stabilized again in the meantime. Strawberries from Egypt have been in the assortment of import company Special Fruit for years, but since this year, they supply Moroccan strawberries as well. “After years of searching for the ideal Moroccan partner, we finally found the right one. We have extremely high quality requirements that connect with our quality strategy that we handle for Spanish strawberries,” says Ben Maes of Special Fruit.
Morocco is growing strongly in the production of strawberries and other berries every year. In Egypt, the situation of the soft fruit production is relatively stable. Both origins are not yet available. “We have just started the import from Egypt around mid-November, and the import from Morocco has just started. We usually quit the import from Egypt begin January and the import from Morocco will continue until the end of the season. We use road transport, so that we can preserve the cooling chain in a better way. This also fits better in our idea of sustainable sourcing,” he explains.
Everybody wanted strawberries
The Moroccan strawberries are in a higher price range than the Egyptian. “The market for imported strawberries started out very high due to enormous shortages caused by low amounts of local product. Everybody wanted strawberries, resulting in extremely high prices. The situation has now stabilized with normal prices for this time of the year,” he explains. “We notice that the demand is on an equal level throughout Europe and everybody is readying themselves for Christmas and New Year. We expect that this period will be relatively stable because the supply will be stable too,” Ben concludes.
