Middle East opening up for baby vegetables
summary：Baby vegetable is becoming more popular around the world, Ben Halliday from Agrilink, South Africa, said demand for the company's baby vegetable has seen an increase since the start of the year....
Baby vegetable is becoming more popular around the world, Ben Halliday from Agrilink, South Africa, said demand for the company's baby vegetable has seen an increase since the start of the year.
This increase in demand has been most noticeable in the Middle East. "I put a lot of the increase down to tourism, but also the resident population are buying more consistently at the supermarkets. The most popular baby vegetables are the cucurbits, while the leafy veg and brassicas are less popular."
The EU will remain the main market explains Halliday, as the Middle East can be unstable. This said, the Middle East seems to be the forward trend at the moment and as Agrilink imports into UAE they have had no problems with the current unrest in the region.
The cost of producing these products has also risen in South Africa as the logistic and labour costs increased, there is also competition from African counties who can produce baby vegetable more cheaply. "We have looked at growing in other African countries, but politically some of them are unstable and the quality produced in South Africa justifies the cost."