Egypt

Sun World Welcomes New Licensees in Chile, Egypt

Thu, 30 Oct 2025 17:58:07 GMT

Sun World International LLC announced Oct. 30 that it has added six new licensees to its worldwide network. The new partners — spanning key production regions in Egypt and Chile — represent diverse business models, from vertically integrated exporters to long-standing family-owned farms.

“These partnerships reflect the kind of thoughtful growth that defines Sun World,” says Pablo Ramirez, vice president of global licensing. “We work intentionally to identify partners who share our values and uphold the integrity of our brands. Together, they strengthen our ability to deliver exceptional fruit to retailers and consumers across every region.”

Sun World says the new licensees are:

Delipack Spa (Chile) — A family-owned company with more than 60 years in the fresh fruit industry, Delipack manages 1,000-plus hectares of production and is recognized for its quality, innovation and sustainable practices serving global markets.
Cairo 3A for Agricultural and Animal Production (Egypt) — A vertically integrated supplier of produce through advanced farming, postharvest and distribution systems across Egypt and the Middle East and North Africa region.
ITAMCO for Agricultural Development (Egypt) — Established in 1991, ITAMCO (GB Farms) cultivates more than 2,000 acres of grapes and mangoes and is known for its focus on traceability, environmental stewardship and export quality.
Al-Bustania Agricultural Development Company (Egypt) — A leading grower and exporter serving major European retailers, Al-Bustania operates extensive acreage and multiple certified packing facilities across Egypt.
Nivex for Agricultural Investment and Export (Egypt) — A second-generation family enterprise specializing in fruit production and export to retailers across the European Union and the United Kingdom.
Geofrut (Chile) — Founded in 1991, Geofrut manages more than 1,500 hectares of owned farmland and collaborates with 180-plus producers, supplying fruit to markets worldwide through a strong commitment to sustainability and traceability.

Each new partner will market Sun World’s signature grape brands tailored to their regions’ growing conditions and retail markets. As part of the Sun World licensee network, they’ll receive agronomic support as well as access to proprietary breeding insights and marketing tools to help drive long-term success, the company says.

“By expanding across both hemispheres, we’re not just growing our footprint — we’re strengthening the reliability and reach of Sun World fruit for retailers and consumers everywhere,” says Petri van der Merwe, vice president of global licensing. “This balance allows us to deliver premium quality 12 months a year, from our vines to the global marketplace.”

Salix Fruits expands and opens a new office in Egypt

Fri, 17 Mar 2023 20:38:02 GMT

Atlanta-based Salix Fruits has opened an office in Sadat City, Egypt.

“This is one of the most important milestones for the company in 2023,” Ignacio Vidales, sales manager at Salix Fruits, said in a news release. “In the last years, we saw a consistent increase in the offer and demand of citrus from Egypt. It has always been very competitive in terms of price in the North Hemisphere but know that competitiveness has also arisen in their quality. We believe it is key for our future to open an office in this location to be close to our growers to fulfill the growing demand of our customer base around the world.”

With an office in Egypt, Salix Fruits now is present in six locations around the world. Fruit business trade analyst Haydy Shaheen will lead the operations in the North African country, according to the release.

“Developing this region to supply the global markets we serve is a long-awaited wish that we are fulfilling today, and adding a professional like Haydy to this new office is the push we needed to achieve the challenge of turning Egypt into one of the most important countries of origin for our company,” Vidales said in the release.

Salix Fruit carries a portfolio of over 25 produce items and works with more than 80 producers in 18 countries and 400 customers in 57 countries, according to the release.

Salix was founded in 2013 by Juan González Pita and Luis Elortondo and has recently been acquired by Grubmarket.

Sun World International enforces intellectual property rights in Egypt

Wed, 14 Aug 2024 12:10:05 GMT

Sun World International LLC says two Egyptian courts have ruled in the company’s favor of in infringement litigation it filed against unlicensed Egyptian growers for the illegal production and sale of Sun World grapes.

The two economic courts, in Cairo and Tanta, issued injunctions on the merits against two growers, according to a news release:

Prohibiting the unauthorized propagation of Sun World varieties.
Prohibiting the unauthorized sale, offer for sale, import or export of Sun World fruit.
Awarding monetary damages.
Forcing the uprooting and destruction of all grapevines illegally planted on their farms at the infringers’ expense.

A global breeding and licensing company in business for more than 40 years, Sun World it has more than 200 table grape patents and plant variety rights worldwide, along with proprietary offerings in stone fruits, cherries and mangoes, the release said. Sun World’s varieties are licensed to growers in 22 countries.

The California-based company says it has a long-standing business developing and licensing its proprietary plant varieties to growers worldwide, including Egyptian farmers, who earn a premium for growing Sun World’s superior varieties.

“Sun World will enforce the full extent of its rights against these infringers, seeking to stop illegal production, remove the infringing plantings and collect damages for past infringement,” Michael Stimson, vice president of intellectual property and general counsel at Sun World International, said in the release.

Despite Sun World’s plant variety rights registrations in Egypt, some unauthorized farmers have been found growing Sun World’s varieties, violating both Egyptian plant variety rights and criminal laws and damaging the Egyptian table grape export market for authorized growers, the company said.

“We continually monitor table grape growing regions and table grapes in consumer markets around the globe for potential infringement cases. As a result, through private and court-ordered investigations, we identified Sun World’s proprietary vines on farms owned by unlicensed growers and, after a thorough investigation, pursued this litigation against them,” Stimson said. “Sun World’s business is to deliver the best varieties possible to our licensees. These illegal infringers are reducing the market price for the fruit grown by law-abiding, licensed Egyptian farmers who grow Sun World varieties. So, we work tirelessly worldwide to enforce our intellectual property against every single infringer we find.”

Sun World encourages growers in Egypt who are interested in planting the Sugrathirteen black seedless table grapes variety, marketed under the Midnight Beauty brand, to obtain a license to plant and propagate Sugrathirteen vines and to sell fruit under its authorized Midnight Beauty brand. Unauthorized Egyptian producer-marketers sometimes illegally sell Sugrathirteen variety grapes under the ”Black Magic” brand and are subject to criminal legal actions and civil liability, the release said.

Inquiries regarding licensing Sun World varieties can be directed to Ben Taieb, licensing manager for Egypt, at btaieb@sun-world.com .