Sweet potato is one of the quieter Egyptian export categories, and one of the more reliable. Lifting starts in September and continues through to March, which places Egyptian supply directly into the European and Gulf winter window when North American and Mediterranean stocks are thinning. Buyers who want space in that window are placing indications now, before harvest opens.

Variety and grading

Beauregard dominates Egyptian export plantings. It has orange flesh, a copper skin, a regular oval shape and a dry matter level that suits both retail packs and industrial processing. Covington appears in smaller volumes for buyers who ask for it specifically.

Grading is done by weight band. The three bands that cover most export orders are 100 to 200 grams for retail punnets and small nets, 200 to 400 grams for loose retail and foodservice, and 400 to 700 grams for catering and processing. Anything below 100 grams and anything misshapen goes to the industrial channel. Class 1 material should be free of growth cracks, wireworm damage, soft rot and green shoulders, with skin scarring within the tolerance agreed in the contract.

Curing is the step that decides arrival quality

Sweet potato that has not been cured properly will not travel. After lifting, the roots are held at roughly 29 to 32 degrees Celsius and 85 to 90 percent relative humidity for five to seven days. That period heals the skin, closes the harvest wounds and converts part of the starch, which is what gives the root both its keeping quality and its eating quality. Skipping or shortening the cure is the single most common reason a container arrives with rot in the lower cartons.

After curing, the roots move to storage at 13 to 14 degrees Celsius. Sweet potato suffers chilling injury below about 12 degrees, so a reefer set at citrus or mango temperatures will damage the cargo. The set point on the booking should read 13 degrees Celsius with normal ventilation, and it is worth confirming that the forwarder has entered it correctly before the container is sealed.

Packing and container loading

Common export formats are 5 kilogram and 10 kilogram corrugated cartons, 15 kilogram cartons for processing customers, and mesh or paper bags of 1, 2 and 5 kilograms for retail programmes that want shelf ready units. A 40 foot high cube reefer takes 20 pallets, and depending on carton weight and pallet height a full load usually lands between 24 and 26 tonnes net. Loading practice and pallet build by crop are covered in our note on reefer container loading for Egyptian produce.

Documentation and compliance

A sweet potato shipment to the European Union travels with a phytosanitary certificate, certificate of origin, commercial invoice, packing list and bill of lading. Soil residue on the roots is a recurring inspection point at EU entry, so washing and brushing specification should be agreed at order stage. Residue analysis to EU maximum residue levels can be issued per lot, and third party inspection through SGS or Intertek is available on request. The full paperwork list is set out in our guide to export documentation for Egyptian produce.

PEI Trade supplies sweet potato from GLOBALG.A.P certified farms in Beheira and Nubaria with curing and cold storage under our own supervision. For 2026/2027 allocations, sizing availability and a written offer to your port, contact our export desk on WhatsApp at +20 10 9911 1918.