AGREXCO is expecting its first shipment of Israeli grapes to arrive in the UK shortly.
"We are starting the season three weeks earlier than previous years," says Amos Orr, general manager for Agrexco UK. "The weather in Israel has been perfect for grapes, resulting in a great early crop. The wholesale markets will take the first deliveries around May 20, with shipment to the multiples leaving Israel on May 27. Our growers have worked hard to bring forward the crop, nurturing the vines by covering part of their orchards with plastic. Covering the vines in this way, the orchards are protected - this not only brings the crop a week forward, it also produces a bigger berry, with increased sugar levels as well as a larger bunch."
Agrexco is responsible for handling around 85-90 per cent of the total grape export figures of 9,000 tonnes from Israel, with 50 per cent allocated to the multiples and the remainder going to the open market and the continent. "The UK is our main market for grapes," says Orr. "We are developing markets in the Far East and as said, continue to export to the rest of Europe."
Perlette will be the first of the seedless grapes to arrive, closely followed by SBS (early sugar), a variety showing good early sugar levels and a larger berry size than Perlette. Both varieties will be available until the end of June. Superior, the leading variety, will be available in the first week of June and will continue through until the first week of August. Agrexco is also bringing in several hundred tonnes of Thompson from mid-season until the end of August.
Red seeded variety Red Globe will be available on the open market from mid-August continuing through to the end of November.
Orr explains: "There have not been any significant changes in the demands of the multiples - they want a quality table grape. The emphasis is on the size of the bunch and the size of the grape and obviously the percentage of sugar present. Looking at the crop, and bearing all this in mind, we are confident that all criteria will be met."
Agrexco continues to look into ways of improving post harvest procedures. This year advances have been made in the cooling chain. An additional quality control team has been set up in the port of Ashdod, checking the shipment yet again before it's loaded on to either of the two ultra fast vessels built specifically for the company.
"We have a weekly vessel holding 4,200 pallets and 800 containers leaving Ashdod on a Thursday, arriving at Marseilles on the Sunday night - deliveries get to the UK within six days of departure," says Orr. "The new boats are fast; they carry a heavy volume and have a far shorter travel time. There are 18 chambers on the vessel, enabling us to maintain the different temperatures and humidity required by our produce - all contributing to getting the product to our customers at optimum quality as well as lengthening the shelf life.”
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