Where do the foods on your plate actually come from? A look at global trade routes for dry goods

The wheat in your bread most likely began its journey in a field in Russia, Canada or Australia. The lentils in your soup probably crossed two or three oceans before reaching your kitchen. It is almost certain that the sunflower oil in your frying pan passed through a port, a processing plant and a trading hub before anyone used it for cooking.

Most people eat without giving any of this a second thought. And that’s understandable. But the journey matters. Because when something happens to disrupt that journey, you feel it in your grocery bill.

The Story of Wheat

Russia leads global wheat exports, accounting for around 24% of total exports worldwide. Together, Russia and Ukraine supply nearly a third of the wheat traded globally. Australia ranks second, exporting over 29 million metric tonnes annually, with strong demand from Asian and Middle Eastern markets. It is followed closely by Canada, France and the United States.

From these fields, wheat is transported by bulk carriers via major sea routes to key import hubs. Egypt alone received more than 4.3 million tonnes in the first half of the 2025/2026 season. North Africa as a whole relies almost entirely on imports to feed its population. The same is true for much of sub-Saharan Africa and South-East Asia.

When Russia imposed export restrictions following its invasion of Ukraine in 2022, prices across the Middle East and North Africa shot up almost overnight. This link, between a farm in Siberia and a bakery in Nairobi, is a direct one. It is not abstract.

The Story of Lentils

Canada is by far the world’s largest exporter of lentils, accounting for nearly 40% of global exports, which are estimated to be worth around $1.6 billion in 2024. It is followed by Australia, Turkey, the United States and India. The largest importers are India, Bangladesh, Turkey, Egypt and Pakistan, all of which are densely populated countries that rely on pulses as a primary source of protein.

What many people do not realise is that the United Arab Emirates lies at the heart of this trade. The UAE does not grow lentils domestically, yet it has secured a place among the world’s top five lentil exporters since 2010, acting as a re-export hub where imported lentils are repackaged and redistributed across the region. Dubai’s geography, logistics infrastructure and free trade environment make it one of the world’s most important transit points for commodities.

This is the model within which ASAFI operates. It purchases goods from countries of origin, transports them via connected trading hubs, and supplies buyers in more than 30 countries in the southern hemisphere.

The story of sunflower oil

Ukraine, Russia and Argentina together account for nearly 60% of global sunflower oil exports. For decades, Ukraine alone held more than half of the global market share. Then came the war of 2022, which changed the landscape overnight. Shipping routes in the Black Sea became unpredictable, and importing nations that had relied on a single source were forced to seek alternatives.

Global sunflower oil production for the 2025/26 marketing year has been revised to 22 million metric tonnes, a reduction of 500,000 metric tonnes from previous forecasts, as crop estimates in the European Union, Russia and Ukraine have been repeatedly downgraded. At the same time, prices rose by around 19% year-on-year by early 2026, as demand for refined sunflower oil continued to grow, particularly in India and across Asia.

What this means in practical terms is that the oil in your kitchen is one of the most geopolitically exposed foodstuffs you buy. The conflict near the Black Sea is not confined to the Black Sea. It travels through shipping lanes, refineries and trading hubs before manifesting as a higher price on supermarket shelves in Lagos, Karachi or Cairo.

The Story of Rice

India alone is expected to supply around 24.5 million metric tonnes of rice in 2026, accounting for approximately 40% of total global rice trade. It is followed by Thailand and Vietnam, with Pakistan and Myanmar also playing a significant role. The vast majority of rice traded globally comes from these five countries alone.

Sub-Saharan Africa is the world’s largest rice-importing region, with the bulk of these imports supplied by Asian exporters. The Middle East, which includes Iran, Iraq, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates among its largest buyers, is the world’s third-largest rice-importing region.

What sets rice apart from wheat or lentils is the speed with which policy can disrupt it. When India imposed export restrictions in 2023 to protect domestic supplies, prices across Africa and the Middle East soared within weeks. Millions of people who had never before paid attention to Indian agricultural policy suddenly felt the impact in their daily living costs. This is the nature of a supply chain built on concentrated sources. When supply from the source drops, everyone further down the chain feels it – and feels it quickly.

Why trade routes affect the cost of your food

Goods do not simply move from the field to the plate. Instead, they pass through suppliers, shipping companies, port authorities, customs agencies, trading firms, local distributors and, finally, retailers. Each stage adds time, cost and risk.

The Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) Food Price Index rose by 2.4% in March 2026, with food prices rising across all commodity categories, driven in part by higher energy costs linked to the conflict in the Near East, where energy costs affect shipping. Shipping costs affect the prices of everything transported by sea. Almost everything you eat has been transported by sea.

This is not a warning. It is simply how the global food trade works. Understanding this helps you interpret price changes with greater clarity, and less confusion, when they appear at the checkout.

What does this mean for you?

The staple foods you buy every week are the end result of a supply chain that spans several continents, managed by traders, shipping companies and importers operating in markets that most consumers never see.

The food on your plate has travelled further than most people will ever travel in their lifetime.

Sources: Tradologie, FAO, Wiley Online Library, Lord Agro Trade, Worlds Top Exports, Wto, TradeImeX , Export Genius, Economic Research Service