A cold snap across grapefruit-growing country in Florida is giving fruit quality a boost, reports the Florida Department of Citrus. 'We have had unseasonably cool weather these last few nights, especially the night of January 7-8,' said Mike Yetter of FDOC's international desk. 'But this is good for the tree and for the fruit as long as it doesn't actually freeze. Fruit this year has higher brix levels and quality is better than last year thanks to a combination of different factors in growing conditions.' Shipments of grapefruit out of Florida to the UK are roughly in line with last year when over 700,000 cartons were exported. The department's 1million carton target for the UK remains elusive, but there could be a boost to sales of Florida fruit as a knock-on effect of hurricane Iris which struck Cuba in October destroying both fruit and trees.

'We have not seen the effects of the Cuban situation on the markets yet,' said Yetter. 'But it will probably not only have an impact on fresh grapefruit but also on processing and it is likely to take the Cuban industry several years to fully recover.'

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