Israel has built a good reputation for itself as a source of summer lines, starting with grapes and stonefruit before moving onto more exotic lines including mangoes, pomegranates, dates and dragon fruit, all of which can command a premium in the UK.
This season set out with a lack of chilling hours in the winter months followed by a prolonged heatwave, which hit summer supplies of Israeli fruit. Together with the exchange rate, rising costs and slow sales in the UK, this has made for a summer that will be tougher than most.
Grapes started in the first week in May ahead of stonefruit and lychee supply this month, passion fruit and mango sendings in July and the pomegranate season in August, while dates are available year round.
These are just some in the varied basket of summer lines coming on stream in the next few weeks and are a good indication of how growers and exporters must juggle their offer throughout the summer. However, this year it is feared that even the most seasoned players will have to draw on all their resources to make the market work for them.
The grape season, which kicks off Israeli summer supply, is being described as a “perfect storm”, in which the winter weather hit production, Indian fruit flooded the market and the exchange rate took its toll on trade, all at a time when UK consumption failed to get off the ground.
Mangoes, another key line for the UK, will see volumes drop by an average of 20-25 per cent as a result of the growing conditions.
Israeli export giant Agrexco sends a wide range of summer lines to the UK, including its most popular product, mangoes, as well as plums, grapes and figs and the likes of passion fruit, lychees and dragon fruit.
Oded Yacovson, general manager of Agrexco UK, admits that growers have had to battle against a number of factors this season, but he insists that growers and exporters will work hard to make sure their commitments are met. “It was not an auspicious start for stonefruit,” he says. “The winter weather had a definite impact on production. Early season apricots and plums were badly affected, with the blossom literally falling off trees during the high temperatures.
“Mangoes were equally affected - as a result, Keitt, the first variety in July, will have 30 per cent less production. However, despite this, we hope to be able to fulfil any programmes that have been set.
“There is a shortage of fruit in Israel and a huge demand for all lines from the local market, particularly for grape and mango,” he continues. “This makes for better returns to growers from the home market, so it is difficult to predict which lines will be most popular in the UK.”
The Israeli grape season is still in progress, having started with Early Sweet before moving onto Sugarone and then Thompson in August. Stonefruit sendings will kick off summer arrivals in volume, and varieties in the late season beyond August should not be affected by the winter weather. The next few weeks will see lychee supply start to build, while mangoes will come into their own next month, as the summer mainstay. Pomegranates will start at the end of next month with Rosh Pered, before moving into Akko and Shani and on to Wonderful in September.
But for now, all eyes are on grapes and mangoes, as two of the main lines to come out of Israel in the summer months.
David Crossland, managing director of Mill Associates, admits that the Israeli grape season was an “absolute disaster” this year and he is looking ahead to the start of the mango season at the end of July. “This summer has started with an extremely disappointing grape season, with a perfect storm scenario,” he says. “Israel had lower volumes as a result of the warm weather combined with a stronger local market - which in hindsight, was a Godsend. The carryover of Indian grapes meant that there was a lot of very cheap Indian fruit on the UK market being sold on an open price basis, which held the whole market down.
“At the same time, poor weather in the UK saw poor demand for grapes, full stop. Sales volumes in the UK were pitiful and prices were extremely poor.
“As a result, returns to growers have been very poor and I am sure that there are a lot of them licking their wounds and will be looking at the market next year with some trepidation.”
The mango season, set to start on time at the end of next month, is already facing its own set of challenges in much the same vein as those that hit grapes and a number of other summer lines, even though volumes are a month to six weeks away.
“The exchange rate will make mangoes expensive by the time they get to the UK,” says Crossland. “If we can manage to sell the same volumes as we did last year, it will be damage limitation.
“But the beauty of mangoes compared to grapes is that they do not have to vie for sales in the same way that grapes do against the likes of stonefruit. Mangoes aren’t really in that category, but are more of a well established exotic.”
How the season pans out will depend on a number of factors, from the exchange rate to where growers and exporters choose to send their fruit. On the ground, growers are concerned primarily about the exchange rate, while the costs of water and labour have risen.
“There is a market for Israeli summer lines, but much depends on prices,” says Yacovson. “With the exchange rate as it is, the home market is a good proposition, particularly with volumes being down.
“Exchange rates always affect trade, much to the detriment of our growers. We have a responsibility to give them the returns they need in order to survive and equally, we need to provide our customers with the good quality produce that they expect from us at a price they dictate. It is hard as the UK has high expectations and is our main market, but we are looking further to Europe for this reason.”
As one of the most forward-thinking producing countries, Israel has not lost the confidence of those that have dealt with the country’s growers and exporters on a long-term basis.
“Israel is, if nothing else, a very innovative country,” says Crossland. “The growers and exporters will always look to maximise returns wherever they can and diversify where they can. From that point of view, you have to be optimistic, even with outside pressures.”
AGREXCO PUTS CARMEL-BRANDED PASSION FRUIT ON THE WATER
Carmel-branded green passion fruit is on its way to the Europe, following an early start brought on by the warm winter.
Passiflora is grown along the Israel shore from the north-western Galilee to the Negev in the south.
No pesticides are used in the production of this variety, either through irrigation or spraying, making it an example of “green agriculture”, according to supplier Agrexco.
The Israeli exporter’s “green vision” also extends to transportation and Passiflora, like many other fruits that Agrexco sends to Europe, is shipped in cargo vessels Carmel Ecofresh and Carmel Bio-Top.
Passiflora has a dark purple colour with faint white specks and a tough, smooth and waxy rind. The cavity within is filled with a mass of double-walled sacs containing orange-coloured pulpy juice with hundreds of small dark seeds.
Tidhar Jackson, product manager in Agrexco, is hoping for a long export season almost without interruption from July until the winter.
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