A major boost to the sweet potato’s fortunes on export markets has been the fact that it has emerged in recent years as a vegetable high in nutritional value.
The export season starts in August and ends nine months later in April. A survey in the foreign markets review Beshukey Hayetzu compiled by Yael Kahel et al and released by the market research department at the Israeli ministry of agriculture, notes that according to EU import data, most of the sweet potatoes imported from Israel arrive at sales points in Europe between late August and early March. The yield Israeli growers obtain comes to an average of 16 tonnes an acre, when growers use virus-free materials.
Sweet potato, according to the survey, is rated seventh among the most important food items in the world, after wheat, rice, maize, potatoes, barley and cassava. World production of sweet potato amounts to 140 million tonnes, of which some 95 per cent is grown in 100 countries, most of them termed as developing countries. China is the world’s largest grower of sweet potatoes, with 120mt of production annually - accounting for 85 per cent of the world’s total. Uganda, Nigeria, Indonesia and Vietnam are considered as important sources of the vegetable. In Europe, sweet potatoes are grown in relatively small quantities in Portugal, Spain and Italy. The EU imports sweet potatoes mainly from the US, Israel, Egypt and South Africa, to the tune of 41,400t in 2004, compared with 27,300t in 1999.
The survey notes that imports of sweet potatoes from Israel grew by an average of 30 per cent a year, and in 2004 Israel replaced the US as the main supply source to EU member states.
According to the market report, import prices for sweet potatoes from the US and from Israel are quite similar, but significantly higher than the price of sweet potatoes from Egypt. Imports of the product from South Africa have achieved higher than average prices over the last two years, due to price rises during the northern hemisphere summer - the main supply season for South Africa.
Kahel et al also note in their report that the EU is increasing its imports year on year and that the forecast is for further growth in the coming years, in view of the proven health benefits of the product. “Israel has an advantage in that it is closer to EU markets than its main competitors, the US and South Africa, which export sweet potatoes to Europe 12 months a year,” reports the survey. “Although the price of Israeli sweet potatoes is similar to the those imported from the US and South Africa, high yields obtained by Israeli growers provide their exporting compatriots with an advantage which enables them to challenge their competitors on the EU markets.”
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