Morocco is the fifth largest exporter of fresh lettuce in the French market, new data shows.
Agriculture-focused news outlet EastFruit reported on Sunday that Morocco increased its fresh lettuce exports to the European country, with 254 tonnes recorded in the first three months of 2023.
Despite the large number, Spain remains the main exporter of fresh lettuce to France, with 80% of France’s total imports.
In addition to France, the UK is also a fan of Morocco’s fresh lettuce.
The UK imported 210 and 300 tonnes of fresh lettuce in 2018 and 2019, respectively.
According to EastFruit, the pandemic has affected the demand for Morocco’s lettuce.
“In 2023, the situation changed, and Morocco came back to the UK market, with about 90 tonnes of exports in January-March,” the news outlet added.
According to Kenyan agritech platform Selina Wamucii, Morocco sold 937 tonnes of lettuce in 2019, a year where demand for Moroccan lettuce saw an increase of 12.8% compared to the year before.
“Between 2017 and 2019, lettuce’s exports increased by 3.42% netting the exporter US$0.91m for the year 2019,” the same source explained.
