Azerbaijan pushes pomegranate exports toward Europe — The Debate
Azerbaijan's pomegranate trade hits €48.2 million in 2025, aiming at European supermarkets and diversifying the continent's fruit imports.
Azerbaijan shipped pomegranates and related products worth €48.2 million in 2025, positioning the fruit as a fast‑growing non‑oil export.
Around 23,000 hectares of orchards now supply fresh fruit, juice, concentrate, wine and seed oil to 26 countries, from Gulf states to markets across Asia.
The proximity of Azerbaijani orchards to EU borders shortens transport times, allowing fresh fruit to reach European supermarkets while still in peak condition.
Iran, Turkey and Spain remain the main competitors, each exporting pomegranates at large scale.
Ministry of Agriculture of the Republic of Azerbaijan highlights a mix of indigenous varieties, EU‑compatible phytosanitary standards and closeness to European and Gulf markets as key advantages.
More than 200 varieties are cultivated, concentrated in the Kur‑Araz lowland and the Goychay district.
The best‑known internationally is Guloysha, prized for its thin skin, high juice content and sweet‑sour flavour. Other varieties such as Valas, Shah Nar, Nazik Gabig and Bala Mursal offer distinct colours and flavours that producers use to stand out on supermarket shelves abroad.
"This rich heritage is one of the defining characteristics that distinguishes Azerbaijani pomegranates in international markets," said Garashov, whose organisation represents more than 500 farmers and exporters.
Fresh fruit still dominates, but processed products, including juice, concentrate and oil, are giving producers a longer selling season.
Cold storage, processing plants and logistics infrastructure now let them supply buyers year‑round rather than only during the autumn harvest.
Foreign buyers and large supermarket chains are demanding stricter phytosanitary standards, consistent fruit sizes and international packaging, pushing smallholders toward new financing instruments and partnerships.
Yusif Lazgiyev, operations director at Az‑Granata, a privately owned juice and beverage company that runs 332 hectares of its own orchards, said this year's harvest was cut back after cold and rainy weather in late May and early June prevented the second of the pomegranate tree's three seasonal flowerings.
He estimated yield losses from a single flowering cycle at 15 % to 20 %, and noted that temperature swings between night and day were also accelerating disease spread in orchards. Wine production this year fell 30 % to 40 % compared with 2025.
The industry has identified drip irrigation, digital water management and improved water efficiency as priorities in response to higher temperatures and more frequent drought.
"Climate change, rising temperatures, prolonged droughts and increasing water scarcity have become major concerns for all producers," Garashov added.
The annual Goychay Pomegranate Festival, held each October in the district about 200 kilometres west of Baku, draws tens of thousands of visitors and serves as both a cultural celebration and a trade event where producers meet buyers, showcase new varieties and negotiate export contracts.
In 2024 the festival was inscribed on UNESCO's Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity after an initiative led by First Vice‑President Mehriban Aliyeva.
"This UNESCO recognition demonstrates the exceptional cultural value of the pomegranate for the Azerbaijani people while further enhancing the international visibility of the 'Made in Azerbaijan' brand," Garashov said.