Cairo – Egypt’s company Fruttella Food Industries plans on exporting Egyptian citrus to Latin American markets via Brazil. The company’s president & CEO said Frutella wants to sell 1,000 tons of citrus and other fruits to Brazil over this year as a first step to enter the region. Sarhan says Brazil’s is a huge and promising market, and unlike the Arab and European countries it has the advantage of few competitors, which encourages the company to endure the long transportation periods required to take the goods to Latin America.
In an interview with ANBA, Sarhan explained that many Egyptian companies managed to export relevant volumes to Brazil last year, despite the freight time. He also applauded the role played by the Arab Brazilian Chamber of Commerce (ABCC) in helping Egyptian companies to export to Brazil. The ABCC holds weight in Brazil, respects the exports and works towards overcoming any barriers they may face. Furthermore, both governments are willing to boost Arab-Brazil trade, the businessman told ANBA.
Founded in 1935, Fruttella is an agricultural producing and exporting firm. Products the company ships include citrus, pomegranates, mangoes and onions, which are bounded to over 40 countries around the world, including Canada, France, the United Kingdom, Sweeden, Russia, Ukraine, Australia, as well as some African countries.
According to Sarhan, the firm owns an area of approximately 100 hectares in the town of Kafr Shukr in the region of the Nile Delta, as well as a new 400-hectare farm at the beginning of the El Dabaa Road. The production capacity of Fruttella is approximately 38,000 tons a year, of which they export some 20,000 tons a year. A large part of the exported products comes from the company’s farms, while others are supplied by other farms, whose production is under the company’s control.
Improvement
The businessman said the firm is keen on making their products stand out in terms of planting, harvesting, proper packaging and transport to earn the trust and admiration of clients from different parts of the world. He said 70% of the quality of the oranges, for example, depends on the harvest and transport being made in the scientifically correct way, particularly if it’s long distance. The firm imported clippers from Spain to keep the oranges from being grazed during the harvesting, which would impact their quality.
To ramp up its presence in the international market, Fruttella plans to participate in specialty international exhibitions around the world, such as Fruit Logistica in Berlin, Germany, Fruit Attraction in Madrid, Spain, and World Food Moscow, in Moscow, Russia. According to the businessman, his company plans to be present in fairs in Brazil, too, in the future.
Russian-Ukrainian war
Fruttella hasn’t been impacted by the Russian war in Ukraine, especially because the volume of exports to these countries was not that big. Sarhan said the firm prefers not to focus on saturated market, choosing instead distant countries, despite eventual transportation difficulties. But the Russian-Ukrainian war was one of the reasons that made Fruttella focus their attention on the local market and offer previously export-oriented goods to major supermarket chains in Egypt like Carrefour, Hyper, Oscar, Saudi, Metro, Fresh Food Market, and Panda. He says the initiative was well received, as the goods are safe and compliant to the European requirements, as well as having been inspected by the Ministry of Agriculture of Egypt.
Sarhan says the large local demand for the firm’s products has confirmed that the Egyptian market has great opportunities, which led Fruttella to also import fruit under its name to supply them to supermarkets in Egypt with the same safety and quality requirements of domestically grown produce. He added Fruttella has obtained the Global G.A.P. certificate for farms that meet the European requirements, as well as other international certifications that confirm the quality of products, farms and packages.
Translated by Georgette Merkhan & Guilherme Miranda
