It’s not often that the weather lends a helping hand to the fresh produce industry, but in the case of Israeli citrus it has made the country the top choice over its competitors. What’s more, volume is steady, indicating that Israeli citrus businesses are in for strong sales.
The main Israeli citrus offer - grapefruit, oranges and easy peelers - have been scarce elsewhere due to shortages caused by a heatwave in Florida that brought a focus on prices in the juicing industry, as well as cold spells in South Africa, Turkey and Spain. Many in the industry are excited about the prospects that this season could bring for Israel.
“Volume-wise, the expected export volume from Israel this season is about 30,000 tonnes,” says Oded Yacovson, UK general manager at Agrexco. “The crop this season is 50 per cent bigger than last season, but in terms of exports, there will by 15-20 per cent more due to climate conditions. The unusually high temperatures during the winter months together with heavy storms did affect the pack-out volume, but quantity is up because of new plantations coming into production.”
Citrus importer The Greenery’s purchasing manager Andres Ribas van Oosterom says that all eyes are on Israel where citrus is concerned and that there is no other place to go for volume. “It has been a really good campaign -much better than the last couple of years,” he says. “The prices are good, the fruit is ripe enough when shipped and I should imagine growers are getting a good return.”
Grapefruit glory
The Israeli grapefruit season came on stream a little early this year due to an early South African finish amid cold conditions. This resulted in Israeli grapefruit making its way onto the market in mid-November in large volumes. “The grapefruit market saw its normal decline in demand and now it is picking up again,” says citrus export manager for MTEX, Ramie Hessel. “Demand is really firming up due to exports being down from Florida and Turkey. Israeli grapefruit is now considered to be one of the best and we are working on promotions with large multiples in the UK and hope to continue to serve them until the end of February.”
However, there has been a shortage of white grapefruit. Although white fruit doesn’t have anywhere near as close a following as its red alternative and has been delisted in many southern hemisphere supermarkets, the UK market is still keen. “It’s a favourite of older members of the population in England,” says Hessel. “It’s been in demand from juicing companies as well, so we have been putting all we can into the market, while still maintaining the usual high quality.”
Yacovson agrees. “With grapefruit, the fruit quality and stability is second to none, with no comparison to the frequent quality issues of fruit grown in tropical climates,” he says. “With the currency exchange such as it is, the local market is important. The UK was and still is a key market for us, followed by Europe accounting for 70 per cent of total volume and we are also exporting to eastern Europe, the demand for grapefruit, easy peelers and Sweetie being high from the Russian market and for lemons from the Far East.”
Orange glow
Although the orange crop has also experienced a shortage in availability, demand has been “fantastic”, maintains Hessel. “There have been shortages in Egypt and if you’re going to supply the UK supermarkets, you need to have a large volume. MTEX is the largest grower in Israel. Some 75 per cent of our crop is generated by our own farms, with the remainder coming from our packhouses and private growers. We are currently in the Shamouti season; the original Jaffa.”
Although oranges remain a popular choice, it’s common knowledge that easy peel fruit such as clementines and satsumas have really taken the reigns in the UK, with consumers prizing convenience above all else. “We are now concentrating on the clementine variety Or,” says Hessel. “We are upping our volume with a new plantation because we are hardly covering demand and we have to end our shipments in March or April.”
However, soft citrus exports are down on forecasted figures due to storm damage - a similar case with Shamouti volumes and white grapefruit exports, which are also down on forecasts, although larger fruit this season has increased yields. Growers are focusing on red grapefruit and clementine plantings on what were Shamouti and white grapefruit orchards.
In with the new
Red-flesh Cara Cara oranges were exported to the UK for supermarket programmes for the first time by Agrexco this season, as well as the “premium quality” red grapefruit.
“Looking ahead, we see an increase in Or clementine volumes for export and an increase in Cara Cara volumes for UK supermarkets,” says Hessel.
Producing 50,000 tonnes of Or a year, MTEX will bring a much larger crop in the next couple of seasons. “Or is still a relatively new variety and varietal work is definitely the way towards increasing consumption,” says Hessel.
“We are concentrating on easy peelers and the development is being led by the Israeli government, but we are contributing our time, land and agronomists to the project. We have some new items that are unnamed at the moment and foresee good potential for the future.”
Pomelo is making waves at the moment, offering a sweeter alternative to a traditional grapefruit and a larger, juicier fruit than an orange, and a new sweeter grapefruit that also looks like an orange will be on the market commercially in six or seven years’ time.
“But our main focus is on easy peelers, especially for the first part of the season to be able to compete with volume from Spain and Morocco. Our priorities are taste, convenience and colour, in that order.”
CAUTIOUS OPTIMISM FOR THE SEASON AHEAD
At MTEX UK, general manager Marius du Plessis says the season is progressing reasonably well, although due to adverse weather conditions in the Middle East, the Israeli citrus crop has been smaller across the range.
“In the grapefruit category, we had a good start to our campaign, when an earlier than normal beginning to sendings from Israel enabled us to help importers in Europe to overcome a shortage of grapefruit in the market,” he reports. “New orchard acquisitions meant we justifiably expected an increase in volume across the season, but both Sunrise and white grapefruit have suffered from unfavourable weather conditions. Both continue to show a shortage of medium sizes in demand by the market. The red grapefruit season still has a while to run and is expected to continue until April.”
The easy peeler season has also been disrupted by poor weather. “We expected growth across most varieties, but we are now looking at a volume that is roughly in line with last season. Or, which has become our flagship variety, is now in full swing.
“We have just finished our Suntina and Minneola programmes, which saw export volumes fall largely because production dropped from the level it reached last season.
The UK market
“A combination of supply levels and currency fluctuation has tightened up the UK citrus market in recent months,” says du Plessis “On red grapefruit, for example, because production levels have been low and availability has therefore been limited, movement in the currency levels has made the Israeli fruit more expensive.
“The situation for easy peelers has been pretty much the same, although the impact this has can vary depending on the variety. The expectations are laid now on the rest of the Or campaign, as this is a very popular variety in the UK and has established itself as a highlight in the easy peeler calendar due to its consistently high eating quality.”
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