Exporting a legacy of pride, Lebanon’s apples

Apples have been among Lebanon’s most significant agricultural products, sustaining farming communities and contributing to the country’s agricultural identity. Yet there is a growing struggle behind every harvest. Lebanese apple farmers face a combination of seasonal oversupply, fluctuating prices, rising production costs, limited export markets and increasingly demanding international standards. Much of the harvest is concentrated within just a few weeks, flooding local markets and leaving farmers vulnerable to price collapses and unsold produce. With exports heavily dependent on a handful of traditional destinations, finding new markets has become essential to the sector’s survival.

Now, Lebanese apples have reached a new milestone. A shipment from the Saddir (Export) project is bound for the British market, following earlier breakthroughs for grapes, avocados and cherries. The René Moawad Foundation implemented the project with funding from the Kingdom of the Netherlands.

“Saddir” builds on an earlier project that has been running since 2019. Project Manager Imad Riachi described the model as market-led, with every intervention beginning from buyers’ demands.

“We start by looking at what markets demand and what they need at different levels, the required varieties, packaging, technical requirements, phytosanitary requirements, certifications,” he told The Beiruter. The project then works on whatever is missing so that Lebanese products can reach markets beyond the traditional ones.

Apples were not part of the first phase, which ran from 2019 to 2023. The donor’s priorities then lay in border regions such as Akkar and the Bekaa, shaped by the arrival of displaced Syrians. The first phase’s results changed that. “We managed to convince the donor to expand the project’s geographical coverage and include the apple sector,” Riachi recalled. Work on apples began in 2023.

A harvest that arrives all at once

Few problems in the sector are as stubborn as timing. Production winds down just as the mountain harvest begins, and the fruit floods the market together. “Almost the entire harvest becomes available within a short period of just three or four weeks,” Riachi observed. “The question is, what do we do with all this production at once?”

The project’s response has been to stretch the season. Last year it distributed roughly 65,000 apple and cherry seedlings across Lebanon, introducing varieties that ripen earlier or later. The aim is to spread production beyond the typical months.

Entering Britain required meeting exacting standards. Riachi identified two main hurdles, the variety itself and pesticide residues. European buyers apply a requirement known as “Below Five Pesticides,” yet laboratory samples in Lebanon can reveal residues from 12, 15 or even 17 different active ingredients.

The project worked with farmers on spraying and pest-control programs that combine conventional and biological methods. “There are certain pests that cannot be treated using organic methods, so conventional methods must still be used in those cases,” Riachi noted.

Certification was the second hurdle. British retailers require packing facilities to hold BRC (British Retail Consortium) accreditation. The facility that handled this shipment, Liban Village, secured it with the project’s support and has kept it since. Riachi stressed how rare that is. “The number of facilities in Lebanon that hold this certification can practically be counted on one’s fingers.”

The accreditation matters because supermarket chains will not stock produce without traceability. A product may cross a border, but the mainstream market stays closed without proper certification.

Riachi also pointed to regional politics as a factor. Amid the ongoing war, British consumers have turned away from Israeli produce, and importers are searching for alternatives. “We are therefore trying to position Lebanese products as an alternative that can enter these markets.”

The larger point is the sector’s dependence on a few buyers. Egypt, Libya and the Gulf have long absorbed most Lebanese apples, and Gulf markets have only recently reopened.  “We cannot put all our eggs in one basket,” he cautioned. He cited reports of roughly 600 containers leaving every three weeks, with about 300 on some occasions, a volume the Egyptian market cannot consume. “Its consumers simply cannot consume all of it.”

The logic is plain supply and demand. New export routes would ease the glut and, in turn, lift prices at the farm gate. “If we work on opening new markets with new requirements and ensure that our products are suitable for those markets, we create opportunities to sell more produce within a shorter period,” he explained. “This does not negatively affect prices. On the contrary, it helps maintain prices and, over time, could even increase them.”

Britain is not the only target. Riachi points to potential markets across Africa as part of the same diversification strategy.

He is candid about why the sector keeps returning to crisis. A search of Lebanese media archives turns up the same story whether the coverage is four years old or seven. “We operate reactively rather than proactively,” he reflected. “We do not establish forward-looking plans or develop a long-term strategy for the sector.”

He credited the Ministry of Agriculture with current efforts but acknowledged that this year’s unusually large harvest has overwhelmed everyone.

Riachi presented Saddir’s work as a contribution rather than a cure. The problems are longstanding and cannot be solved in a year or two. “These efforts cannot be undertaken by the foundation alone,” he stressed.

The British shipment itself reflected the model he advocated, a collaboration between the Ministry of Agriculture, the René Moawad Foundation and the private sector. “Hopefully, this will serve as a cornerstone or foundation for changing the way we approach the sector and how we can contribute to its sustainability and development.”