Amr El Beltagy

Amr El Beltagy

Egyptian exporter Belco has switched from airfreight to seafreight for its shipments of green beans to the Netherlands, Germany and the UK, a step that the company's Amr El Beltagy has called 'amazing'.

'Through normal shipping lines, it took over 10 days to ship to the Netherlands and the UK, which is too long,' he told Fruitnet.com. 'Now we have an Italian line that has managed to cut the time to five or six days.'

According to Mr El Beltagy, cutting the transit time and switching to seafreight will radically reduce the price of its green beans, helping the company to be more competitive.

'Airfreight is at least four to five times more expensive,' he explained. 'Seafreight is also much better for the environment.'