The first grapefruit of the season from Mexican fruit exporter Proagro has left the country by reefer, destined for the UK and continental Europe.
Around 400,000 cartons of grapefruit is on board the ship, grown on the company’s EurepGAP-certified farms in the area of Yucatan, south-east Mexico.
Some 65,000 of these will be delivered for distribution in the UK, due to arrive by the end of week 36.
The Mexican grapefruit season started slightly later than usual this year, but Proagro is predicting slightly higher than average volumes, with fruit quality reported to be good.
And moving the fruit by reefer has helped mitigate the late start, according to the company’s Juan Pablo Palazuelos: “Since we changed the regular container service for a direct reefer service we will cut transit time by at least one week. This will let us arrive in Europe at the same time as last year.
“Our plan is to charter 4 reefers for the season every two weeks.”
