Morocco’s cucumber supplies to the Portuguese market reached 20,000 tons this season, more than 17 times prior seasons, topping Portugal’s other cucumber imports following a severe drought over substantial regions of the European continent in 2022, reported horticultural data analytics website East Fruits on Friday.
Moroccan cucumber exports have been steadily increasing since 2017, and it’s been three seasons now that local producers have expanded shipments of Moroccan cucumbers to international markets.
The devastating drought that has plagued Southern Europe is driving the need to expand cucumber imports for Portuguese markets, and Portugal has had to increase vegetable supplies from other nations. The principal producers that have stepped up to meet this demand have been Spain and Morocco.
7,700 tons of cucumbers were transported into Portugal during the 2022/23 season, with Spain accounting for two-thirds of the imports received from six nations and Morocco accounting for one-fourth, according to East Fruit.
Morocco provided cucumbers to 32 different countries during the 2022/23 season, bringing in a stunning $19 million in export earnings.