The Jordanian export promotion company HEPTTP, which has recently been created with the assistance of the World Bank, appeared at Fruit Logistica for the first time, accompanied by 12 producers of fruit and vegetables.

Promotions manager Manal Awamleh was showcasing products including dates from Al-Baraka Farm, the largest privately owned date farm in the country. “Next year we aim to export 2,500t of this fruit worldwide,” claimed sales manager Nadine S Naber. The dates taste like green apples and contain a small amount of tannin.

Khalil Abu Ghannam would like to see his strawberries sold in Europe too. They are grown in the fertile Jordan River valley, “a greenhouse without plastic sheets”. He confidently claimed that “between December and February I can beat competitors from Spain on the British market, with 100t of high grade fruit.” In 2005, he intends to obtain EurepGAP certification for his strawberries.