Post by Trade Coach on Jun 6, 2019 3:24:29 GMT 1
Cucumbers often serve an important culinary support role as crunchy ingredients for many food dishes, from garden salads to sweet pickles.
Product Description
Cucumber is a wonderful vegetable and belongs to the Cucurbitaceous family, its scientific name being Cucumis sativus. This vegetable is considered as a super food for its effects on the overall health. This plant is extremely easy to grow and is cultivated in various sizes, shapes and colour, it can be cultivated all over the world.
It has a light to dark green thin skin, moisture rich flesh and has tiny edible seeds inside, it is best harvested when it is young, tender and just short of achieving maturity. It has a slightly sweet flavour and is mainly eaten raw in salad or sandwiches or in the form of juice.
You will find different varieties of cucumber grown in different regions, and they are usually eaten fresh or pickled. Cucumbers, typically eaten fresh, are called slicing cucumbers. Slicing cucumbers are available throughout the year, but they are at their best between May and July.
Nutritional Value of Cucumber
Cucumbers are rich in various nutrients, vitamins, minerals, energy, and water. According to USDA cucumbers are a good source of potassium, phosphorus, vitamin C, niacin, and vitamin K. They also provide iron, sodium, zinc, riboflavin, and vitamin B-6.
Health Benefits of Cucumbers
The health benefits of cucumbers are becoming popularly known in many cultures. The taste of fresh cucumber is also an added market advantage especially because the thirst quenching and the cooling qualities of this squash are truly refreshing. Cucumber benefits are many, they range from controlling blood pressure, prevents kidney stones, helps to manage diabetes, preventing acidity to keeping skin well-toned.
Global Market for Cucumber
Cucumbers are extremely beneficial for overall health, hence it makes the product highly demanded and the business profitable. The European market is actually receptive to import of the produce.
Germany is a large market for pickled cucumbers. The consumption of cucumbers is consistently on the increase in Europe (about 500 thousand tonnes).
Your product should be of good quality as European buyers of fresh produce are very serious about product quality. If you are able to offer quality products, your customers will develop confidence in your supplies and you will have guaranteed and consistent sales.
Also as an exporter, it is crucial to document your part of the supply chain and take pictures of your product before shipping.
Small startup capital is required and the product is easy to source.