Egypt’s greatest advantage as an origin is not any single product — it is the calendar. Thanks to the Nile Valley and Delta climate, plus reclaimed desert farms with staggered plantings, something export-grade is being harvested in Egypt in every month of the year. For an importer, that means one origin can feed your program from January to December — if you know the Egyptian produce seasons well enough to plan around them.
This is the master calendar for all 37 products in the PEIVANA catalog: fresh fruit, fresh vegetables, frozen lines and dry goods, each with its realistic export window.
How to Read This Calendar
- Windows are export windows, not just harvest dates — they include the period when volume, sizing and price make commercial sense for export.
- Edges are softer than the table suggests. Early and late weeks of any window have lighter volumes and firmer prices; mid-window is where quality and price peak together.
- Frozen and dry products are year-round — they are processed at harvest peak and shipped from cold or dry stores all year, which makes them ideal container fillers in any month.
The Master Table: All 37 Products
Fresh fruit
| Product | Season | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Oranges | Dec–Jun | Navel Dec–Mar; Valencia Dec–Jun (the long runner) |
| Mandarins | Nov–Mar | Murcott/Fremont; earliest citrus of the season |
| Lemons | Year-round | Peak volume and best pricing Nov–Apr |
| Mango | Jun–Oct | Early varieties June; Keitt carries into October |
| Grapes | May–Aug | Early Sweet/Flame from May; Crimson to August |
| Fresh strawberries | Nov–Mar | Winter fruit; air or short sea lanes |
| Pomegranate | Aug–Nov | Early 116 in August; Wonderful Sep–Nov |
| Figs | Jul–Sep | Short, fast summer window |
| Guava | Aug–Nov | Fragrant autumn fruit; handles short lanes best |
| Dates | Year-round | Harvest Sep–Dec; stored fruit ships all year, peak demand pre-Ramadan |
| Cantaloupes | Mar–Jul | Spring melon; strong Gulf demand |
| Watermelons | Apr–Jul | High-volume summer item |
Fresh vegetables
| Product | Season | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Onions | Mar–Oct | Golden and red; cured stocks stretch the tail |
| Garlic | Feb–Jun | Fresh green Feb–Mar; dry garlic Apr–Jun and stored beyond |
| Potatoes | Jan–Jun & Aug–Nov | Two crops: spring (main export) and autumn |
| Sweet potatoes | Aug–Feb | Beauregard; cured for long transit |
| Tomatoes | Oct–Jun | Cool-season field crop |
| Peppers | Oct–Jun | Colored capsicum, chili types |
| Cucumbers | Oct–Jun | Chilling-sensitive: ships at +10 °C group |
| Zucchini | Oct–May | Fast-turning winter vegetable |
| Eggplant | Oct–Jun | Peak quality in the cool months |
| Green beans | Oct–May | Fine and bobby grades; strong EU demand |
| Okra (fresh) | May–Oct | Summer crop; frozen available year-round |
| Spinach | Nov–Mar | Winter leafy; travels in the citrus temperature group |
| Lettuce | Nov–Apr | Iceberg and romaine; cold chain critical |
| Cabbage | Nov–Apr | Dense, cheap freight filler for winter loads |
Frozen lines (year-round)
| Product | Season | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Frozen strawberries | Year-round | IQF from the Nov–Mar fresh crop; Egypt is a top-3 world exporter |
| Frozen okra | Year-round | Zero and extra grades |
| Frozen molokhia | Year-round | Minced leaves; staple of Arab diaspora retail |
| Frozen spinach | Year-round | Chopped and leaf |
| Frozen mixed vegetables | Year-round | Custom blends possible |
Dry goods and legumes (year-round)
| Product | Season | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Fava beans | Year-round | The Egyptian staple; peak demand pre-Ramadan |
| Chickpeas | Year-round | Multiple calibers |
| Lentils | Year-round | Red and green |
| Dry white beans | Year-round | Alubia types |
| Black-eyed beans | Year-round | Consistent dry-store quality |
| Olives | Year-round | Table olives from the Sep–Nov harvest, processed and shipped all year |
The Year at a Glance: What Each Quarter Is For
Q1 (January–March): the citrus quarter
Peak orange and mandarin volumes, fresh strawberries, the spring potato crop starting, plus the full winter vegetable range. This is the easiest quarter to fill a mixed reefer — see our dedicated Q1 loading calendar.
Q2 (April–June): the handover quarter
Valencia oranges run to June while onions, garlic, cantaloupes, watermelons and the first grapes (May) come in. Citrus-plus-onions and melon-led loads both work.
Q3 (July–September): the summer fruit quarter
Mango is the star, alongside grapes (to August), figs, early pomegranate and guava, with onions and fresh okra as fillers.
Q4 (October–December): the new-season quarter
Pomegranate and guava finish, the date harvest lands (and Ramadan buyers should already be ordering — see our Ramadan order timeline), sweet potatoes peak, winter vegetables return in October and mandarins open the new citrus season in November.
Using the Calendar to Build Mixed Containers
The practical value of a 37-product calendar is overlap: any month offers at least four or five temperature-compatible products, which is exactly what a consolidated reefer needs. Examples:
- January: oranges + mandarins + strawberries + spinach + cabbage (one +4 °C box).
- May: Valencia + onions + garlic; or cantaloupe + watermelon + early grapes.
- August: mango + guava + early pomegranate + sweet potatoes (a +10 °C box).
- Any month: a −18 °C frozen box or a dry legumes-and-dates box, because those lines never go out of season.
How to combine them — temperature groups, pallet math, documents — is covered step by step in our cornerstone guide to mixed produce containers from Egypt.
Plan Your Season With PEIVANA
PEIVANA ships all 37 products above from Alexandria, Damietta, Sokhna and Port Said, with mixed containers as our standard operating model and same-day quotations. Tell us your market and the months you buy, and we will map your year against this calendar.
Start via the contact page or on WhatsApp.
FAQ: Egyptian Produce Seasons
Which Egyptian products are available all year?
Lemons, dates (from store), all frozen lines (strawberries, okra, molokhia, spinach, mixed vegetables), table olives and all legumes — fava beans, chickpeas, lentils, white beans and black-eyed beans. These make reliable year-round fillers for any container.
When is Egyptian citrus season?
Mandarins open in November, Navel oranges run December to March, and Valencia carries the season from December all the way to June — roughly seven months of continuous citrus supply.
What is the best month for a first trial container from Egypt?
December to March is the most forgiving window: citrus is at peak volume, prices are competitive, and the winter vegetable range gives you plenty of temperature-compatible options to fill one reefer.
Do these seasons shift from year to year?
Edges move by one to three weeks with weather, and early-window pricing is always firmer. For a specific loading month, ask for a live availability check — we quote same-day against actual field and store volumes.