Baron for Agricultural Investment's sales reached EGP 15.3m last year, with plans to boost that figure to EGP 19m this year. Head of the company, Ashraf Attia, said that the company exports its entire production without supplying the local market, achieving an annual growth of 20%. Attia explained that the company has transformed from exporting fresh products to frozen products over the past years due to the high demand for them in the global market. He noted that potatoes see high demand from foreign markets, as most Egyptian exporters can produce them at high quality. He pointed out that the success of the entire export system requires helping local companies to develop themselves in the use of new technologies. The company exports its products to several markets, such as Poland, the European Union, Russia, the UK, and Arab countries. He pointed out that the quantities entering each market vary from season to season, according to their needs. Last season witnessed an increase in the export of frozen vegetables to the European markets, driven by the exposure of their crops to atmospheric factors, which destroyed a share part of them. Attia added that this contributed to attracting importers in Europe to Egyptian vegetables, and thus achieved a boom in the volume of contracts, especially in the strawberry season. He said that quality is the basis of product entry to other markets. "South Africa started exporting only 10 years ago, yet has managed to put together a strong system that enabled it to export to other countries," he said. This season, the company has began entering the African market for the first time, through exporting juices and dates to Gambia and tomato sauce products to some other markets. He pointed out that the sauce products in African markets depend on price more than quality, which provides strong opportunities for Egypt in this segment of product. Attia added that Egyptian government support for the export of companies to Africa will support the presence of products there, and will increase their competitiveness. The Egyptian government, through the Export Development Authority, supports companies exporting to African markets by subsidising 50% of shipping cost, which is one of the major obstacles facing entry of Egyptian goods into African markets. Companies also face a crisis with risk guarantee, and many insurance authorities have refused to deal with shipments to the continent.
