Supplies of Shamouti and Or have just got underway as the Israeli citrus season reaches its peak.

According to Marius du Plessis of Israeli citrus exporter MTEX’s UK office, demand in the UK is strong.

He said: “Shamouti started a week ago and production conditions have been fair in Israel, so the fruit looks good. We are getting bigger volumes of Or clementines year on year and are increasing supplies, but demand is still outstripping availability.

“At MTEX, we handle more than 90 per cent of the total Or volumes from Israel and this year we expect the Or season to extend into April because of increased plantings.”

So far, citrus volumes out of Israel for MTEX are running two to three per cent ahead of last year at this point in the season.

Du Plessis said: “The season on Suntina and Minneola has gone well for us.”

MTEX is also going to be offering small commercial trials of new clementine varieties in the UK in about a month’s time.

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