Morocco is positioned as a leader in the Japanese frozen strawberry market, recording a significant increase in its exports in 2024, despite an international fluctuating context.
Morocco continues to score points on the Japanese frozen strawberry market, according to data from the Global Trade Tracker published by the Ministry of Finance of Japan and relayed by the specialized portal Eastfruit. In 2024, Moroccan exports reached a record figure of 5.972 million tonnes, generating income of $ 9.9 million, an increase of 14% compared to 2023. Compared to 3.778 million tonnes exported in 2022, this performance represents growth of 34%.
Moroccan frozen strawberries are not a new product on the Japanese market, their first arrival dates back to 1995. However, it is since 2015 that their presence has truly taken off, with an average accumulated export growth of 13.1% over the past decade. Exports reach their peak between May and July, with a record volume recorded in July 2024, said the same source.
-Morocco, in addition to garden strawberries, also exports frozen raspberry and, on a more modest scale, other fruits to Japan. In 2019, the main suppliers were China, Egypt, Chile and the United States, representing 85% of imports together. However, Morocco, which only held 7% of the market at the time, managed to increase its share to 15% in 2023 and around 16.7% at the end of 2024. This allowed it to exceed competitors such as the United States and Chile, establishing itself in third position among the largest frozen strawberry suppliers in Japan, behind Egypt and China.
Despite a downward trend in frozen strawberry exports to other markets in the past two years, Japan has a strategic outlet, showing an increasingly growing demand for Moroccan products.
In parallel, Morocco is not limited to the Japanese market and also intensifies its exports to Europe, notably Germany, Belgium and the Netherlands, in addition to conquering North American markets such as the United States and Canada, underlined Eastfruit.
