Acreage for Egyptian garlic increases, but yield affected by weather

Although acreage for garlic in Egypt has increased, the yield has not increased in a similar fashion, says Ahmed Adel, CEO of Egyptian garlic exporter Global Veg Egy: "The acreage for garlic in Egypt has seen an increase this year, growing about 20 to 25 per cent compared to last year. However, we can't say just yet whether this will actually result in more yield this year. There are many factors that affect the yield other than the actual acreage, such as the weather conditions and the location of the fields."

According to Adel, the weather can mostly be blamed for the lower yield of garlic this season. "The weather hasn't been good enough for the garlic this season, because it has stayed warm in both November and December, which had a negative impact on the cultivation of garlic in certain areas. Demand at this time of the year is normal, similar to how it was last year around this time. Demand may have started a little earlier this year, but it hasn't been too high. Sizes are still small as of now, as we're doing white and purple garlic, with sizes of 40+ for both products."

Adel emphasizes that they would love to move into new markets this season, in order to not sell to the competitors of their current clients: "It remains a positive challenge to be able to increase our sales to our existing customers, while still supplying the correct quality in combination with the acceptable price. Meanwhile, we also still push to enter new markets in which we do not have any clients just yet. This also helps our existing customers, as our new clients would not be competing against our current ones."