After a flying start to the Israeli stone fruit season with sales of apricots being tripled from last year, exporter Agrexco is now concentrating on its speciality varieties, developed for the premium end of the market.

"We had a great early season both for apricots and plums, but now we are facing competition from mainstream Europe which makes it difficult for us to compete on core lines," said Steve Hopkins, sales manager Agrexco UK. "However we hold a strong position in the marketplace with our speciality lines as the fruit that we are producing is of the top quality demanded by our customers."

Included in these lines are plum variety Vania, Diamond and Queen Rosa as well as the yellow plum Lamoon.

"We are looking forward to the late season, keeping an eye on the impact that the hot weather is having on the continent and how it may affect production," said Hopkins. "Our supplies of plums will be consistent until into November, not only in availability, but in quality."

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