Israeli exporting giant Agrexco works with around 2,000 growers to send products to 81 counties around the world. And the umbrella organisation is able to promote and sell Israeli product abroad by concentrating on the needs of the market and tailoring supply to suit the commercial climate, according to Yiftah Yechie, Agrexco product manager. “We understand the market and its needs, and we try to make this our main focus,” he says. “Israel comes in behind the European market so we have to make our own selling points.”
The main window for Israeli exports stretches from October to May.
“Keeping the standards needed for the UK market is hard, and some category managers are very demanding and ask a lot from the growers,” says Yechie. “But the standards are not achieved by magic, and Israeli growers understand that in order to stay in the market and ahead of the competition they have to keep running, keep putting in the effort, and keep producing high-end fruit and vegetables.”
Agrexco aims to heighten the Israeli presence on the UK market by shortening the distance between the grower and the buyer, as well as working to introduce new varieties, extend the season of popular lines and increase yield.
Ariel Immerman, managing director at major melon producer Yahel Produce, which supplies half the total volume of melons marketed by Agrexco, says the key to reaching UK trading standards is communication. “We believe in talking to people who grow our melons and those who sell our melons,” he says.
“One of the most important things that a category manager can do is to see the fields, to see the good and bad for themselves, and know the problems that we have and how we are dealing with them,” he adds. “The relationship between the grower and the buyer is very important.”
Eighty per cent of the total yield at Yahel Produce is earmarked for export - and Immerman says the UK is an important market. “The UK is our main target because we are able to meet its standards, and this gives us good returns on our product,” he says. The supplier packs for major retailers across the UK including Tesco, Asda, Morrisons and Marks & Spencer.
Immerman says the Trooper variety, which makes up the majority of the supply from Yahel Produce to Agrexco, stands up as a high-quality product on the UK market. “The Trooper variety is the perfect melon, with a good aroma and shelf life,” he says. “Other melons have a shelf life of about a month and a half because they have no aroma, but we have found a more balanced product.
“The only thing we can compete on is quality, and this is what we will continue to do.”
The Israeli Ministry of Agriculture granted Yahel Produce the right to self-inspect its products in 1996. “Our strict quality control standards mean that the product is checked every hour on the hour,” says Immerman. “This gives us extra confidence in our products.”
The autumn Israeli melon crop, which runs from the end of August to late September, produces 7,000-8,000t for export through Agrexco, while the spring crop, much in demand from the local market from mid-March until the end of April or early May, sees exports of 3,000-4,000t.
The Israeli melon industry is heading towards the revival of orange-fleshed melons as they have more sugars and a distinctive taste - and Israeli growers are committed to finding the best new varieties, according to Itai Gal, an Israeli melon grower. “Out of 200 new varieties of melons, you can get maybe one or two suitable for commercial production,” he says. “We see 300-400 melon varieties each year, and we work with seed companies to produce the best ones.
“UK consumers want to come back to the original taste of melons. Over the last few years melons have been produced that look better but taste worse. The only way to get people to buy melons is to achieve a better flavour, and this will encourage people to buy again and again.”
The new Gal Paz variety, which was planted from the end of August to mid-September, has a place in the UK market, says Gal. Last year, its price ticket was 25 per cent higher than the original Galia on the Israeli market. “The Gal Paz melon is not yet available in the UK, and although UK suppliers are very interested in the product, they will not accept it as they need a way to distinguish the Gal Paz variety from the original Galia, since they look the same from the outside,” says Gal. He is working on ideas to differentiate the Gal Paz melon which include staining the skin with food colouring.
Israeli producers are also focused on increasing yields to maximise their productivity and meet demands from UK suppliers. Aaron Shakargi, head of the Pepper Grower Committee, and part of a community that grows capsicum on 320 hectares split into 4.5-5ha family-run farms, has succeeded in producing an annual yield of two kilos per sqm, which has increased steadily from 3.5kg per ha in 1994. The 40°C temperatures in August see the growers putting a net over the crop, and a switch to plastic is made in October to maintain optimum growing conditions. “The climate in this area is suited to the production of peppers, and we are always looking to increase yields,” says Sharkargi. “The quality of our product is much better than that grown in Spain.” The Faran-based growers supply 25 per cent of their yield to Tesco, Asda and Morrisons through the Greenery.
But Israeli producers must overcome a multitude of challenges in order to export to the UK. The growing conditions in Israeli desert areas are some of the toughest environments in which to grow fruit and vegetables, says Ron Bernstein, a pomelo grower for Yahel Produce. “The temperatures in the desert reach up to 50°C, with 10 per cent humidity - and it only rains a handful of times a year,” he says.
The impressive desert growing sites are manufactured by moving sand from one area to another to make sandy banks. And Israeli growers have no option but to get water from deep wells in order to irrigate the sandy soil using a dripping process that takes the water straight to the plant.
The shortage of workers in some areas means that some fruit must be left on the trees until staff are found to pick and pack the product. “We have had problems finding people to harvest the pomelo crop, and the fruit is still on the trees waiting to be picked,” says Bernstein. “But you cannot leave them or the quality will change from export quality to a standard which is only suitable for the domestic market.”
Additional challenges are thrown up by the continuing hold of agricultural Jewish Law on Israeli growers. With rules such as Orlah, which instructs that fruit must not be picked from orchards until the trees are more than three years old, and Maaser, which dictates that 10 per cent of product must be given away, on one side, and UK category managers on the other, Israeli growers have extra obstacles to overcome in a competitive global market.
Agrexco has pledged to hold open the market for Israeli fruit and vegetables by exporting product from other countries when home-grown supply is not available. “Agrexco exports from other countries which are not competing with Israel to hold the shelf space for Israeli growers,” says Yechie.
This method has allowed substantial growth of the Israeli sweet potato market, according to Avi Bar, root vegetable product manager at Agrexco.
Israeli sweet potato growers plant the orange-fleshed Georgia Jet variety in August and it is available until May - which leaves a sizeable hole in home-grown supply. “Exporting from the US keeps the Israeli window open, and this strengthens the position of Israeli sweet potato producers by completing the season and supplying all year round,” says Bar. “But the aim is to have year-round supply from Israel.
“US varieties have a longer shelf life and are sold as stored product, while Israeli sweet potatoes are sold fresh from the field, with a better eating quality and appearance.”
Israeli growers are attempting to make use of the available microclimates to extend the season and achieve year-round production. Bar says Israeli producers are increasing the growing period by planting an additional 20ha of sweet potato production in the northern part of the Jordanian valley.
The UK is Agrexco’s main market for sweet potato exports, ahead of Holland for distribution across Europe, and France. The exporter supplies to Tesco, Sainsbury’s, Morrisons, Marks & Spencer, and Waitrose, as well as discounters Lidl and Aldi.
But sweet potatoes still form a niche market in the UK - although UK consumption is on the up. “The demand for sweet potatoes has grown by 30-35 per cent each year over the last five years, and the potential for growth is high,” says Bar. “The majority of UK supermarkets have moved sweet potatoes out of the exotic section and put them in with conventional fruit and vegetables, and this has helped to grow sales,” he adds. “But sweet potatoes are still considered as a winter vegetable in the UK, and we have to change the market in order to grow.”
A total of 600t of Israeli sweet potatoes were sold in Europe last year - and Bar says that only six per cent of the UK population knows what sweet potatoes are.
Offer Bogin, managing director at sweet potato producer Ramot, says UK consumers should be encouraged to try sweet potatoes at in-store testings in order to push sales. “This is an ugly fruit and you will only buy it if you know what it tastes like,” he says.
Bar says the key to selling more sweet potatoes is to raise awareness among UK consumers. “And this is what we need to with the whole range of Israeli products,” he adds.
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