Okra has not always been a top of mind vegetable when strolling along the vegetable section of the supermarket. But demand for it has been growing around the world, and more specifically in Europe. People are learning to eat okras.

According to Director Theodoros Zavou, “Alion deals with vegetables such as eggplants, some herbs and okras. Okras have always been present in stores, but it has only been recently that people have been buying and using the vegetable. Business has been good. We have been exporting in growing numbers in countries such the UK, France, Belgium, Switzerland and Scandinavia.”

Zavou added that Alion has been lucky this year. May – November is the period when they grow okra in open fields, and this year, Alion is able to produce high quality ones due to the great weather. “Although Alion doesn’t grow organic okra, but because we follow all the EU standards & regulations, there is not much difference between our non-organic okras and organic okras.”

“Usually okras are prepared together with tomatoes and onions in meals. Okras are quite popular for certain ethnicities such as Afro Caribbeans and Asians living in Europe. Each race prefers a specific type, size and even color of okra. This means our company has to adjust on how we harvest the vegetable.”

Alion supplies high premium priced okra to their markets. But it is still difficult to export, when countries such as India, Kenya and Ghana are able to flood the market with cheap okra because of the cheaper transportation costs in recent years. This makes the already competitive landscape even more competitive and means a lot of the farms struggle with business. A majority of their competition comes from Jordan, which has the same variety as Cyprus. There is also some competition coming from across the Atlantic such as Mexico, Nicaragua, etc. and in Europe, from Spain.

Okras are still on the rise, and given the amount of competition and cheap okras coming into Europe, this should drive down the prices of the vegetable, making it more affordable for the regular person. Cypriot exporters of okras will always have the upper hand because of their experience in the industry, their quality and their already great range of clients in Europe.