Two Egyptian root crops open within a fortnight of each other in October, and both suit buyers who want a pallet or two rather than a full container. Beauregard sweet potato and Colocasia taro are storable, tolerant of a longer transit than most fresh produce, and they share a temperature band that makes them easy to place in a mixed load. Enquiries for the autumn window are already arriving, which is the right time to plan them.
Beauregard sweet potato
Beauregard is the dominant export variety from Egypt, grown mainly in Beheira, Menoufia and the Nubaria reclamation area. Harvest begins in the first half of October and runs into February from store. Export grading is by weight, with the common bands at 100 to 200 grams, 200 to 400 grams and 400 to 600 grams. The 200 to 400 gram band is what most European retail programmes take.
Curing is the step buyers should ask about, because it determines whether the crop holds. Properly cured roots spend 5 to 7 days at 29 to 32 degrees Celsius and 85 to 90 percent relative humidity before being brought down to storage temperature. Skin set after curing is what prevents the surface scuffing and rot that shows up on arrival. Uncured sweet potato looks identical on the packline and fails two weeks later.
Packing is normally a 5 or 6 kg carton for retail or a 10 kg carton and 15 kg mesh bag for wholesale. Shipping temperature is 13 to 14 degrees Celsius. Do not accept a booking below 12 degrees, because sweet potato suffers chilling injury and the damage is not visible until the roots are cut.
Colocasia taro
Egyptian taro, known locally as qolqas, is harvested from October through March, mainly in Qalyubia and Beheira. Sizing runs 200 to 500 grams and 500 grams to 1 kg on the larger corms. It ships in 10 kg or 20 kg mesh bags and in 10 kg cartons for buyers supplying retail. Storage and shipping temperature is 10 to 13 degrees Celsius, close enough to sweet potato that both can share a container comfortably.
Taro demand is concentrated in the Gulf, the UK and among Middle Eastern and African diaspora wholesalers across Europe, so most buyers of it want modest recurring quantities rather than a full reefer. That is exactly the situation a part-load solves.
Half pallet quantities and how they load
A half pallet of 6 kg sweet potato cartons is roughly 60 cartons, or 360 kg net. A half pallet of 10 kg taro bags is roughly 50 bags, or 500 kg net. Both sit comfortably within a mixed reefer alongside onion, garlic, citrus and pomegranate, all of which tolerate the same broad temperature range. What they cannot share space with is anything requiring 0 to 2 degrees Celsius, and the reasoning is set out in our guide to temperature and ethylene compatibility in a mixed Egyptian reefer.
Buyers unsure how much of a container a given quantity actually occupies, and what it costs, should read our note on pallet space planning in an Egyptian mixed reefer before setting a first order.
Booking for October
Sweet potato and taro are both storable, so first arrivals are less time critical than they are on soft fruit. The constraint is curing capacity in the first weeks of harvest, when everyone wants the same early volume. Buyers placing an October position in August or September get cured fruit from the first pick. Buyers arriving in October are usually offered uncured or later stock.
PEIVANA consolidates mixed containers from multiple Egyptian growers under GLOBALG.A.P and BRC certification, with same-day quotations on defined specifications. Send your required product, grade, quantity and destination port to +20 10 9911 1918 on WhatsApp and we will return a price and a loading week.