Egypt's exports of chocolate and carbonated water achieved $180 million in the first two months of the year 🍫🇪🇬

Egyptian food industry exports continue to record new record levels with the expansion of external demand for Egyptian products, especially soft drinks and chocolate, at a time when the state aims to raise the sector’s exports to $7.7-8 billion during 2026 as part of a plan to increase Egyptian non-oil exports.

According to data from the Food Industries Export Council, the sector’s exports during the first two months of 2026 recorded about $1.073 billion, compared to about $1.063 billion during the same period in 2025, achieving a growth of 1%.

Soft drinks top Egyptian food exports

Soft drinks topped the list of the highest exported Egyptian food commodities during the months of January and February 2026, after recording exports worth about $104 million, achieving a growth of 10% compared to the same period last year.

This performance reflects the expansion of Egyptian companies operating in the beverage sector within the Arab and African markets, in addition to the high competitiveness of Egyptian products compared to imported drinks.

Chocolate jumps 83%

Chocolate and cocoa products ranked third among the largest Egyptian food industry exports after recording exports worth $76 million during the first two months of this year, achieving a strong jump of 83% compared to the same period in 2025, which is one of the highest growth rates within the sector.

Thus, the total value of Egypt’s exports of soft drinks, chocolate, and cocoa products rises to about $180 million in just two months.

This growth reflects the expansion of Egyptian companies in the production of value-added food commodities instead of focusing on exporting raw materials only, with increased reliance on Egyptian products within the Arab and African markets.

Frozen strawberries are among the largest exports

Frozen strawberries came in second place on the list of the highest exported goods, after recording exports worth $99 million, achieving a growth of 5%.

Egyptian exports of frozen strawberries benefit from the expansion of freezing and packaging capabilities within Egyptian factories in recent years, in addition to the increase in global demand for frozen agricultural products.

Saudi Arabia leads the importing markets

At the level of foreign markets, Saudi Arabia topped the list of the largest countries importing Egyptian food industries, with a value amounting to $103 million during the first two months of 2026, achieving a growth of 12%.

The Arab countries came as the largest importing bloc of Egyptian food industries during the period, with a value of about $538 million, representing about 50% of the sector’s total exports, despite recording a decline of 7% compared to the same period last year.

On the other hand, the European Union ranked second with exports amounting to about $207 million, accounting for 19% of the sector’s total exports, with a growth of 15%.

Egyptian food industry exports to the United States recorded about $72 million, achieving a strong growth of 22%, while exports to non-Arab African countries amounted to about $76 million, representing 7% of total exports.

Egypt targets $8 billion in food exports in 2026

Hani Barzi, member of the Export Council for Food Industries, said that Egypt aims to raise food industry exports to $8 billion by the end of 2026, while maintaining annual growth rates ranging between 11% and 14%, in preparation for reaching $10 billion within a few years.

$38 billion cumulative exports over 10 years

The member of the Export Council for Food Industries indicated that the sector’s cumulative exports during the period from 2015 to 2024 amounted to about $38 billion, of which $16 billion were achieved during the last 3 years only, which reflects the significant acceleration of the sector’s growth during the recent period.

Egypt's total food exports, including food industries and agricultural crops, were estimated at about $67 billion over the past decade, including $29 billion in exports of fresh agricultural crops.

Almost a quarter of non-oil exports

According to the statements, agricultural crops and food industries represent about 23% to 24% of Egypt’s total non-oil exports, which highlights the great strategic weight of the sector within the Egyptian economy.

The Export Council believes that the large boom in food exports in recent years reflects the development of the capabilities of the Egyptian industry and the improvement of the manufacturing, packaging and supply chain system.

Food industry exports tripled

Official figures show the major transformation witnessed by the Egyptian food industry sector during the last decade, after exports rose from $2.4 billion in 2014 to about $6.8 billion in 2025, with a growth rate of 183%.

• 2014: $2.4 billion
• 2015: $2.5 billion
• 2016: $2.7 billion
• 2017: $2.7 billion
• 2018: $2.8 billion
• 2019: $3.5 billion
• 2020: $3.4 billion
• 2021: $4.1 billion
• 2022: $4.5 billion
• 2023: $5.0 billion
• 2024: $6.1 billion
• 2025: $6.8 billion
•2026: $7.7 – $8 billion (target)

Thus, Egyptian food industry exports recorded a total growth of close to 183% during the period from 2014 to 2025, after rising by about $4.4 billion over 11 years. The data shows that the sector maintained growth even during the period of the Corona pandemic in 2020, before it entered a strong expansion wave since 2021, driven by increased investments and the development of manufacturing, packaging, freezing, and supply chain capabilities.

New investments expected in 2026

The Food Industries Export Council expects to attract new investments to the sector during 2026 in conjunction with the expansion of the production capacity of Egyptian factories and the increase in external demand for Egyptian food products.

The sector is betting on continued expansion within the Arab, African, European and American markets, especially in value-added products such as drinks, chocolate and frozen products, which will support foreign exchange flows and provide thousands of new job opportunities.