Israeli exotics exporter Yapro has kicked off its 2018 passionfruit season with yields expected to be up 15 per cent on last year.
Growing conditions for passionfruit and pitahaya, another key export for Yapro, have been good with low rainfall and relatively high temperatures. Fruit has matured well with no quality issues, the company said.
“We expect the volume to increase dramatically from last year as the plantation area has grown and the yield is higher than last year,” said product manager Nir Dahan. “Winter is finally coming to Israel and the passionfruit plantations are thriving with good yields and high quality fruits.
“We are now in full swing for the harvest and should be able to offer the Passion Dream variety continuously all the way to May,” he added.
Yapro passionfruit is exported via airfreight in loose 2kg cartons, poly bags or wrapped trays of four, six or eight pieces. The class 1 is exported in 500kg bins.
The Dessert King pitahaya variety is already available, with the season expected to last until the end of March, while the Venus and Apollo varieties are expected to come on stream from September, added Dahan.
“The kumquat season will soon come to a close and we think the demand will drop towards the end of January, but product is still available,” he said.

