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Germany has more than 83 million of the world’s wealthiest consumers and is by far the biggest market in the European Union. The German market offers good opportunities for U.S. exporters of consumer-oriented agricultural products.

Public rejection of genetically engineered (GE) plants in Germany is widespread. There is no commercial GE crop production and practically no foods labeled as containing “genetically modified organisms” (“GMO”) on the market.

Saudi regulations allow the importation of biotech plant products, but they are required to be labeled if they contain more than one percent genetically engineered (GE) plant ingredients.

Saudi Arabia is a 20th largest importer of U.S. food and agricultural products in the world, with direct U.S. exports of $1.23 billion in 2020. Return to semi-normal living conditions are invigorating U.S. agricultural exports to the Kingdom as supported by the U.S. Customs data for January – August 2021 that show 16 percent increase compared to the same period in 2020.

Saudi Arabia’s barley imports for the first six months of MY2021/22 (July – Dec. 2021) is estimated at 2.8 million metric tons (MMT), a reduction of 30 percent compared to the same period last year.

With more than 83 million of the world’s wealthiest consumers, Germany is the largest market for food and agricultural products in the European Union.

As a result of millions of religious pilgrims, foreign workers, and a developing tourism industry Saudi Arabia has a large and resilient HRI sector.

In 2020, Post estimates poultry production in Saudi Arabia was 900,000 metric tons (MT) with that total jumping to 910,000 MT in 2021 based on official data released by the Saudi Ministry of Environment, Water and Agriculture (MEWA) as well as discussions with major poultry producers.

Germany is the third-largest importer of fresh cherries in the world after China/Hong Kong and Russia. The largest non-EU cherry suppliers are Turkey for sweet cherries and Serbia for sour cherries. Opportunities for fresh U.S. sweet cherries are...

On April 15, 2021, the Saudi government represented by the Saudi Grains Organization (SAGO) handed back the barley imports and distribution business to the private sector by selling 1.84 million metric tons (MMT) of barley through an open and competitive bidding process to six local grain traders.

Germany is by far the biggest market for food and beverages in the European Union. The food retail sector is saturated, highly consolidated, and competitive.

New measures by the Saudi Food and Drug Authority will have serious repercussions on the Saudi import poultry market.