Promising Opportunities for Egyptian Processed Dates in European, Canadian, Indian, and UK Markets
Eldawy: We Aim to Make Egyptian Dates a Global Brand
Dr. Tameem Eldawy, Deputy Executive Director of the Egyptian Export Council for Food Industries and an International Date Marketing Expert at the FAO, affirmed that Egypt possesses all the components to transition from the world’s largest producer of dates to its largest processor and exporter. He stated that the Export Council’s strategy until 2030 aims to achieve this transformation by developing the manufacturing system.
Eldawy explained that the global date market is witnessing rapid growth, with production exceeding 10 million tons annually. Egypt holds the top position globally, accounting for 19% of total production. He pointed out that countries like the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Tunisia, and Iran lead in processing and exporting high-value date products, thanks to their investments in developing innovative products such as date molasses, date sugar, and stuffed and packaged dates.
He added that Egypt’s exports of dates and their processed products have seen a significant leap in recent years, reaching about $100 million annually, with a volume exceeding 70,000 tons. However, less than 10% of the production enters the advanced processing stage, which he confirmed represents the major opportunity for the Egyptian industry to maximize economic returns.
He emphasized that processing is the real key to maximizing the economic value of Egyptian dates, as it converts surplus into high-value products, increases financial returns for both farmers and manufacturers, and establishes a unified Egyptian date brand as a strategic goal to enhance Egypt’s global standing.
Eldawy noted that the Egyptian market includes about 150 facilities for packaging and processing dates, concentrated in the Oases, Siwa, the New Valley, and Aswan. He stressed, “Our goal is for consumers in London, Jakarta, or Tokyo to see a ‘Egyptian Dates’ brand with a quality that rivals competing countries’ products. Egypt has the history, quality, and capability to be number one in the world in both production and processing.”
He confirmed that Arab and Asian markets, such as Morocco, Indonesia, Turkey, Malaysia, and the UAE, are the most prominent current destinations for Egyptian dates. Meanwhile, promising opportunities are emerging in European, Canadian, Indian, and UK markets, where demand for healthy, natural products is on the rise.
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