Tunisia posts record date harvest as exports gain pace

TUNISIA – Tunisia has recorded its largest date harvest on record, marking a sharp turnaround after a difficult previous season and raising expectations for strong exports in the months ahead.

Date production reached 404,000 tons in the 2025/2026 season, including 347,000 tons of the Deglet Nour variety, according to Ezzeddine Ben Cheikh, Tunisia’s Minister of Agriculture. The result marks the first time national output has crossed the 400,000 ton level, following setbacks during the 2024/2025 season.

Walid Gaddas, CEO of Stecia International, linked the recovery to clearer skies and steady expansion of planted areas that have now reached full output.

“The recovery of the Tunisian date sector is mainly due to a marked improvement in weather conditions in the country, as well as a significant increase in the area devoted to date cultivation, with new palm trees reaching full production this season,” Gaddas said.

Export volumes may also rise to new highs as producers widen their reach. “We are potentially heading for record export volumes as well this season. Significant work has been done to diversify markets and support exporters in order to accompany this recovery in production,” he added.

Market access and buyer engagement

Stecia International supports exporters through the Program to Support Competitiveness and Market Access – Agriculture and Processing Industries, known as PACE-AMIT. The program receives co financing from the European Union and Germany and runs in Tunisia through the German Agency for International Cooperation, GIZ.

“Together with the partners of the program, which is co financed by the EU and Germany and implemented in Tunisia by the German Agency for International Cooperation, we have been working for over a year with Tunisian exporters to help them diversify their markets,” Gaddas said.

He pointed to recent trade activity that links producers directly with buyers. “We facilitated the participation of a group of exporters as exhibitors at Anuga, and we also organized a buyer mission last week in Tunisia, an opportunity for 14 buyers from nine countries to visit date production and packaging sites and sign contracts with exporters participating in the program,” he said.

Ramadan demand and processing outlook

The end of the harvest aligns with preparations for Ramadan, which begins in mid February and typically lifts demand across North Africa, Europe, and Asia. Buyers show strong interest in Deglet Nour, Tunisia’s best known variety.

Gaddas said large volumes now require wider sales channels beyond traditional markets. “We must not limit ourselves to traditional markets, despite their importance. Exporting dates as a raw material offers significant commercial potential, which is why we invited industrialists and suppliers of processors to join the buyer mission,” he said. “Dates can be used to make sugar, syrups, pastes, snacks, and many other by products.”

He added that broader markets and stronger processing could keep exports rising. “With diversified markets and more focus on the date processing industry, we believe that record production will be followed by record export volumes,” Gaddas said.

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