Israeli easy-peel hybrid Mor started its second season in the UK last week aiming to bridge the gap between the end of northern hemisphere easy-peel supplies and the start of the southern hemisphere season.
"Jaffa Mor could potentially solve the industry problem of having high quality easy-peel citrus for this time of year," said Dov Warmen, md of Mehadrin Tnuport Export (MTex) UK. "The difficulty we have is that we could sell our entire crop four times over."
Mor is a clementine hybrid and is very sweet, yet easy to peel as well as being virtually seedless. The renowned Volcani Institute developed the variety in the late 1990s and the fruit is only entering its second year in commercial production. The season is very short between the end of March and mid-April, but looks set to have a vital place in the European marketplace.
This year, the season is starting in line with last year and fruit sizes are on the large side. MTex reports that some 80 per cent of the crop is destined for the export market.
Area under production is 300-400ha and MTex represents 90 per cent of the acreage. All fruit is branded Jaffa and three-quarters of export volumes are sold as pre-packs, the remainder is marketed loose.
Coastal regions of Israel and the Negev desert produce the crop.
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