The Egyptian sweet potato season is still in progress for exporters with cold storage logistics, FreshPlaza writes. “It’s getting harder and harder to source good quality sweet potatoes, leading prices to double between December and January,” Zayed Lasheen of AfriGoodGrow says.
“The season started in Egypt in June with high volumes, perhaps too high. The huge supply affected prices for a long time during the season. In November and December, prices were at their lowest, and many growers lost the motivation to take care of their crops”, says Lasheen.
The exporter continues: “But in January, European demand picked up as sweet potato stocks ran out. Prices rose from 3.5 euros in December to 6.5 euros in January for a 6-kilo box. When we visited farms for our supply, we found that many growers had poor quality sweet potatoes, neglecting them after a long season of low prices and losses.”
Lasheen assures us that he can continue to source good quality sweet potatoes until the end of the season. He says: “At AfriGoodGrow, we are aware of the problem of fluctuating prices to which the sweet potato sector is sensitive. The solution we have come up with is our Good Roots project, operational this season, for contracting growers. This year our contracts represent a 200-hectare area. We also continue to source the best quality sweet potatoes we can find in Egypt at this late stage of the season.”
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“We’re lucky with this project, and the market is proving us right. We’re managing to export to various countries, while the competition’s supply is limited in Spain or very expensive in the U.S. We’re moving towards an extended season, and we anticipate exporting until the launch of the next season in June, rounding off the year for the first time,” Lasheen concludes.
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