Azerbaijan bets on the pomegranate as its next big export

Azerbaijan is positioning the pomegranate as one of its flagship non-oil exports, according to a report published by Euronews on 13 August 2026. The following is a summary of that reporting; the full article is available at the source link below.

Scale of the trade. Euronews reports that pomegranates and pomegranate products earned Azerbaijan EUR 48.2 million in export revenue in 2025, making the fruit one of the fastest-growing non-oil export lines. Roughly 23,000 hectares of orchards feed shipments of fresh fruit, juice, concentrate, wine and seed oil to 26 countries, from the Gulf to Asian markets. That puts Azerbaijani exporters in direct competition with Iran, Turkiye and Spain.

Varieties as a differentiator. More than 200 varieties are cultivated, concentrated in the Kur-Araz lowland and the Goychay district. Guloysha is the best known abroad, valued for its thin skin, high juice content and sweet-sour profile, while Valas, Shah Nar, Nazik Gabig and Bala Mursal give exporters distinct colours and flavours to work with on foreign supermarket shelves. Farhad Garashov, chairman of the Pomegranate Producers and Exporters Association of Azerbaijan, which represents more than 500 farmers and exporters, told Euronews that this heritage — spanning nearly 2,000 years — is a defining characteristic of the country's pomegranates in international markets.

Processing extends the season. Fresh fruit still dominates, but juice, concentrate and oil lengthen the commercial season well past the autumn harvest. Cold storage, processing plants and logistics infrastructure now allow year-round supply. At the same time, foreign buyers and large retail chains are demanding stricter phytosanitary compliance, consistent fruit sizing and international packaging — pressure that is pushing smallholders towards new financing instruments and partnerships. Anar Jafarov, director of the Agrarian Innovation Centre under the Ministry of Agriculture, told Euronews that Azerbaijani agriculture has entered a stage focused not only on volume but on branding high value-added products.

Climate risk. Yusif Lazgiyev, operations director at juice and beverage producer Az-Granata, which farms 332 hectares of its own orchards, said cold and rainy weather in late May and early June prevented the second of the pomegranate tree's three seasonal flowerings, washing blossoms away. He put yield losses from a lost flowering cycle at 15-20%, noted that day-night temperature swings are spreading disease faster in orchards, and said wine production this year was down 30-40% compared with 2025.

What it means for buyers. For international buyers sourcing from Azerbaijan, the report underlines two things: a widening processed-product range that supports year-round contracts, and a harvest that is increasingly weather-sensitive — a reason to confirm volumes and specifications with exporters early in the season.

Source: Euronews, "Azerbaijan bets on the pomegranate as its next big export", by Saida Rustamova and Nargiz Mammadzada, 13 August 2026 — https://www.euronews.com/business/2026/08/13/azerbaijan-bets-on-the-pomegranate-as-its-next-big-export