The 2004-05 season for Florida grapefruit looks likely to be a “skip” year, following yet another hurricane in the Sunshine State.

Hurricane Jeanne swept in last weekend with gusts of up to 100 miles an hour coming ashore near Fort Pierce and Vero Beach where Hurricane Frances struck three weeks ago.

SealdSweet’s office in New Jersey told the Journal that losses in the Indian River area after Frances were about 80 per cent of the crop. “And Jeanne has just about polished things off,” said a spokesman.

Meanwhile, Florida’s loss is likely to be Texas’s gain and growers from the Rio Grande Valley are already taking calls from Japan and Europe.

Texas produces a trademark Rio Red red grapefruit the Rio Star variety more highly pigmented than the pinks from Florida. But the Lone Star state will not be able to make up the shortfall: it produces just 228,000 tonnes of fruit compared to Florida’s 1.7 million tonnes.

Prices in the US were already rising on the news, despite the fact that the Florida season is not due to start for another month: one grower co-operative in California and Arizona reported a 10 per cent uplift as their season nears its end.

In the UK, back up supplies are likely to come from Cuba, Israel and South Africa. But the wholesale markets are already reporting a shortage as the South African season comes to an end and quality diminishes rapidly.

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