Granot Avocado is a co-operative owned by 40 Granot agricultural settlements. One third of Israel’s avocado plantations can be found in Granot and the organisation is obviously an important source for the industry. The organisation advises farmers on the latest developments, growing techniques and packing procedures.
By pooling resources to maximise financial gain, members engage in activities such as packaging and marketing, resulting in productivity matching quality at a high standard.
It is not all plain sailing though, and changing retail demands mean the group is striving to improve, with quality, sizing, higher yields and better irrigation all on the agenda.
Tzevi Caminker, general manager of Granot Avocado, believes more growers are switching to produce the fruit as they feel they can make good money and provide a good quality product. He says: “Our latest avocado project began around seven years ago. The profits are split 50:50 between the growers and Granot Ltd. After five years the project goes back to the growers. The project is running on four kibbutz at the moment, and another five are waiting to take part.”
There are more than 1,300ha bearing avocados for Granot. Of this, 70 per cent go to Europe, with the remaining 30 per cent staying in Israel. Demand, particularly in the UK, is for more Hass and Israeli growers are having to cut their cloth accordingly. Caminker says: “The volumes of Hass being grown is increasing. Of the new orchards being planted, 50 per cent are Hass, and plans are being made to increase the plantings to 60 per cent for next year.”
Retailer pressure does increase demand on growers. “We are investing a great deal into R&D and are looking to improve the size of Hass. Today the average size is around 220g; we are looking to increase this to 250g,” he says. “But we have to be careful and ensure we get things right. If we can only export 50 per cent of the Hass we produce this is not good enough, as the remaining 50 per cent will not be accepted in the local markets.
“We don’t want to focus completely on Hass as customers want variety. If we provide good quality fruit with a good shelf-life, then we will benefit.”
There are also additional challenges faced by growers. Judaism does not permit trade in fruit that trees produce for the first three years. So how do growers overcome such barriers?
Caminker explains: “This is part of our faith so it is not a problem. But we try to improve on areas where we can make a difference. Our season is very similar to the South African season. They grow similar varieties and we have important relationships with them so we can share information on matters such as fertilisation and post-harvesting issues. Also, the vast majority of our growers are EurepGAP approved. We also have an outside auditing system and a growing protocol that must be adhered to. Growers are embracing the requirements expected of them. With accreditation such as EurepGAP in place, implementing policies such as Tesco’s Nature’s Choice is much easier.”
There are also other measures in place to try and improve results and yields. Agronomist Leo Winer has been a responsible for trials growing avocado under nets. Dr Winer explains: “We have learnt from banana growers that growing under nets produces better results, the plants also use less water so we have high expectations for the future.”
The members of Granot are also part-owners of the Granot packhouse, which provides professional and financial support to members.
Yael Eduit, packhouse quality manager and chief agronomist, explained the importance of a smooth running packhouse. He says: “It is important that our pickers know what qualities to look for when picking for export. The biggest size sent for export is 8s, below this and it will remain on the Israeli market. The packhouse packs approximately 170 tonnes of avocado a day.
“Traceability also takes on ever-increasing significance. At Granot each box has a label showing the date and time of packing. If there is ever a problem, the packhouse can use the information to trace back the details and it will tell them which grower and which field the crop originated from.”
There are also additional measures in place to ensure the fruit is of optimum quality. Eduit says: “When the produce arrives from growers it is put into refrigeration, where it is chilled gradually. When it reaches a consistent temperature of 6°C it is then ready for packing.”
The growing of avocados, however, is complex and some growers are looking to diversifying to improve their offer. At the Kibbutz Mabarot, grower Chaim Arditi understands that it is much harder than it used to be to rely on avocado. Arditi explains: “25 years ago a farmer would need to produce 5t of avocados to break even, now this figure has risen to 25t. Farmers have begun to look for new options.”
Arditi is aware of the importance of the export market. He says: “Last year 60 per cent of our avocados went to the export market. Towards the later part of the season when domestic prices improved, the majority of produce was kept in Israel.”
He is also aware of the importance of trying new varieties. “We have taken hybrids from universities, we are looking to take new varieties with a sweet taste and high yield, and we are looking at further irrigation investment to improve on yields,” says Arditi.
One of the fruits undergoing trials on the Kibbutz Mabarot is pitahaya. Arditi explains: “We have been trying to hybrid new fruits to increase the shelf-life. One of our new ventures is to produce a hybrid from a yellow pitahaya that we hope will be available over the Christmas period.”
There are also plans to look for varieties with shorter leaves, as it is believed this would be attractive to the consumer, and the hybrids being developed could be profitable in the years to come.
Kibbutz Mabarot has 2.25ha of pitahaya under cultivation at the moment. Although it is extremely labour-intensive due to the process of cleaning, picking and packing, the incentives are obvious as it commands very high prices. Growers are now looking at being able to provide large yields with improved size, sweetness and longer shelf-life.”
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