Traditionally a novelty fruit at Halloween, the pomegranate offer has exploded onto the UK market since the fruit was given superfood status.
Consumers in the UK have been falling over themselves to get the exotic fruit into their diets. Historically, mainly Spanish pomegranates dominated the market, but now different varieties are coming into the UK from around the world.
Spanish pomegranates, which tend to be small with pale pink seeds, are now having to move over for the larger Californian Wonderful variety, which when grown in Israel makes an appearance on the market at the same time. Wonderful provides large arils with a deep-red colour and has a tough outer shell, making the fruit more durable during the transportation process. As the product can command a premium, Wonderful is pushing the pomegranate sector forward in the UK.
Now a favourite in salads and fruit salads, prepared pomegranate arils have also become a firm fixture in both supermarket aisles and restaurant menus throughout the UK.
Israeli exporter Agrexco saw demand for pomegranates double in the 2007 season, but demand has stabilised this year. “Last season alone we saw demand for our product doubling,” says Agrexco UK’s sales manager Ian Crispin. “Our pomegranate business continues to develop, but as a company we have been exporting them for a number of years to the UK. While over the years demand has increased in small volumes, 2007 saw a massive increase in demand for our fruit - a direct result from the extensive media coverage of the fruit’s health benefits. This season, the demand seems to have stabilised and we are supplying the UK marketplace with approximately the same volumes as last year.
“Media coverage over the last few years highlighting the benefit of superfoods and various respected research findings concerning pomegranates has definitely helped the fruit’s increasing popularity with the UK consumer,” Crispin adds.
The pomegranate was originally cultivated from Iran to the Himalayas in northern India and transferred to the Mediterranean region in ancient times. Spanish settlers then introduced the tree into California in 1769.
Historically, pomegranates have been grown in central Israel, south of Tel Aviv and north of the Dead Sea, but Israel is ready to take advantage of the fruit’s surge in popularity and move production further afield. Total volume in Israel this year is expected to be around 22,000 tonnes - compared to 16,000t the previous year.
“Over the last few years our forward planning has led to more widespread areas being planted with pomegranate orchards, using the latest technology and experience of our growers,” says Crispin. “The volume we deal with has been rising steadily over the last few years, and our grower’s expertise on pruning, irrigation systems and continuing work with respected scientific institutions such as the Volcani Institute, have all contributed to this success.
“In terms of yield, figures are fairly stable this year as any notable rise is due to the increased planting our growers undertook two years ago. These new plantings account for an additional 700 hectares, with higher yields being forecast as the trees mature in the coming seasons.”
Exporter Agriver Ltd sends 18t of whole pomegranates and 8t of prepared pomegranates to UK supermarkets each week. The company sources mainly from Israel from the start of the country’s season in mid-August to its end in mid-November, and from India out of the Israeli season. David Levin, the company’s account manager, says that demand for pomegranates is increasing by 25-30 per cent year on year. “Although the UK is facing a recession, awareness of pomegranates and the fruit’s health benefits is cancelling that out,” he tells FPJ. “There has been a decrease in sales in the exotic category, but interest in pomegranates is still increasing, which means people are really aware of their quality.
“Also every chef is looking for something different to use in their cooking and the pomegranate’s colour makes it a really attractive ingredient.”
Supplier Utopia UK reports that, even though its sales of pomegranates in the UK are down, generally there is steady growth in the sector. The importer mainly brings in pomegranates from India and Israel, because of the fruit’s reasonable price, flavour and availability, but also sources from the US, Turkey, Peru, Chile and Egypt throughout the year.
Pomegranate cultivation can be a profitable business, with trees maturing after five years and producing 50-70kg per tree each year.
“While our growers have excellent irrigation systems, pomegranates are fairly drought tolerant and can be grown in either calcerous or acid soil,” says Crispin. “Although the trees are quite resistant to cold, they are sensitive to frost and strong winds, which can harm the trees as well as the fruit. Israel’s normal dry climate with mild winters and plenty of sun for ripening is ideally suited to them.”
However, Utopia has experienced some problems with the Israeli pomegranate season so far. “Pomegranates have been poor from Israel,” says Utopia’s procurement manager Jane Chamberlain, who sources both 360g and 650g fruit for the UK market. “They have an internal bacterial problem causing rot that forms on the inside, so you cannot see anything is wrong. Problems arise as product is graded by eye at source, so UK suppliers need to check and weigh fruit.”
Levin believes that the Israeli offer has improved since cold storage systems were introduced, to extend the season to the end of March. “So far the season is good,” he says. “It should go on until spring and is looking very promising.”
Crispin agrees. “The season has been good with no unexpected issues arising that had any effect on quality and yields,” he says. “Our fruit is picked from August to November and Wonderful goes into storage ensuring availability runs through to January or February.”
Agrexco will export around 4,000t globally, with the UK market receiving approximately 500t this season. But the exporter finds the UK market competitive and feels that its Israeli pomegranates lose out when smaller and cheaper Spanish fruit is available.
“While it is comparatively easy for our growers to meet the strict UK demands on pesticides, GlobalGAP accreditation and packing, etc, because of all the protocol and day-to-day procedures we have in place, the UK’s requirement for smaller fruit is the one that poses a bit of a problem in terms of returns for our growers.
“Wonderful is a large fruit and it is generally the smaller size fruit that the UK trade has the most requirements for, due to the price per piece. As such our competitors in Spain and India, who can supply the smaller fruit, tend to supply. This causes trade price aspirations, which are hard for our growers to meet in terms of the larger fruit.”
But Levin believes that tastes are changing in the UK. “Where demand in the UK used to lie in the 200-300g fruit, consumers have now moved on to bigger fruit,” he says. “Pomegranates are relatively big in Israel and their popularity in the UK is increasing.”
But there are some problems on the horizon. Due to the price of production and fuel increasing and the value of the euro, Spanish product has been very expensive. However, costs are not being passed on to the end consumer, with one supplier of Spanish pomegranates admitting that it is taking the hit rather than the supermarkets.
Chamberlain agrees and says that pomegranate production will not remain profitable for growers and suppliers if UK supermarkets keep reducing the retail price and squeezing suppliers.
Utopia believes that there will be a “major flush” of pomegranates on the market in the next two years, due to additional plantings, and hopes that this will bring some balance to the price equation.
But Agrexco is concerned for its producers. “Our growers are experts in their field and despite the competition from smaller-sized European fruit, their expertise has allowed them, so far in this economic climate, to maintain profitability,” explains Crispin. “During our season, our main competition in larger fruit comes from Turkey, but our higher running costs, such as labour and logistics, make it harder for our growers to achieve the return they would always like.”
But pomegranates seem to be one of the only exotic fruits to defy the credit crunch in the UK, maintaining their steady growth. “The positive health message for pomegranates and their anti-oxidant benefits, along with the 5 A DAY message, is a bonus for us all,” says Crispin. “But with the economic climate as it is, we know the demand for our product will be very much price driven by the consumer.”
He believes that another factor that may see exports affected in the future for the UK is the strong demand from new markets such as Russia. According to Crispin, Russia is taking large quantities of all sizes and grades of pomegranates and growers are achieving good prices through this market.
The popularity of prepared pomegranate arils is growing faster than wholehead fruit, although the volume sales of unprepared fruit are higher in the UK.
Prepared arils have been the saviour of the prepared fruit category for some time and are providing the point of difference that consumers are looking for to justify the price tag that cut fruit carries. The process of preparing the pomegranate arils is a relatively new one, but investments in the process have been made since pomegranates made an impact on the market.
Agrexco was the first company to bring arils into the UK and the market has continued to be the exporter’s main customer for the product. “Demand was originally driven by consumers here, who took to the whole concept of prepared fruit in a big way,” says Crispin. “Now, with pomegranates generally known as a superfood, it is a great ingredient for fruit mixes.”
Agrexco growers have a designated packhouse that specialises in pomegranate preparation. It is owned by the Mesh company and run by the Shimoni family. “While many prepared fruit lines are being affected by the current economic climate, our seeds are definitely holding their own in our export figures,” says Crispin. “We believe this is because they bring colour, texture and diversity to prepared pack mixes.”
Even if the economic situation does manage to break committed pomegranate fans out there, the industry is certain that prepared arils will prevail.
“In the current climate, it will still be a luxury and sales will probably suffer,” says Chamberlain. “However, long term, I believe that the prepared seeds will be a larger seller, as they are after all messy to prepare at home.
Agriver Ltd has been supplying prepared pomegranate arils for four years and believes that arils will increase in popularity in the UK. “Prepared pomegranate sales may seem modest compared to the whole fruit but, in terms of percentages, arils have seen a higher increase,” Levin says. “The technology involved in preparing the seeds is improving all the time and it is definitely an area to watch.”
But the average UK consumer is still in the dark about how a pomegranate should be prepared and how the fruit can be used on a day-to-day basis. Further guidance is needed when it comes to preparing and cooking with pomegranates, and suppliers and retailers are beginning to recognise this.
“In the Middle East, the consumer, as well as just eating a whole fruit, tends to use the fruit seeds in many ways - for instance, it is made into syrups and pastes, etc, and used as part of local recipes,” says Crispin. “Pomegranates seem to produce one of the finest sweet and sour balances of any fruit. As a company, we are always open to assisting our customers in developing ways of increasing demand for our products and no doubt this may well be an area we may get involved with them, in the future.”
And with much-needed consumer education on the cards, the popularity of pomegranates in the UK is set to hold its own. “We are giving out some leaflets to customers to show what you can do with pomegranates, but this is still at a very early stage,” reveals Levin. “People are learning from TV chefs and from person to person. But the industry certainly needs to educate consumers more. There is a lot to be done and we have plans in place to increase promotional work. But regardless of this, the reaction to our product in the UK is still amazing.”
BACK TO THE BEGINNING FOR ROYAL POM
Pomegranate seed processor Gulevsha is getting ready to take the UK by storm with its prepared arils brand Royal Pom.
Part of Azerbaijan-based REM Services Group, the company’s main markets for the product are Russia and the Ukraine, but general manager Rashad Shirin tells FPJ that Royal Pom is ready to expand into Europe and the UK. “People are more concerned with their health in the UK and Europe,” says Shirin. “People need to be educated further on the benefits of the fruit and have no time to investigate what can be done with it in meals.”
The company has recently purchased 46 hectares of land in Azerbaijan and has planted 23,000 trees itself for the first time this year, which will provide 1,150kg of pomegranates.
“Azerbaijan is only one of the top five pomegranate producers in the world, even though it has been known throughout history that Azerbaijan and Iran are the two countries where pomegranates were first found,” explains Shirin. “We buy between 300-400 tonnes of fresh pomegranate a year directly from the gardens. Because we know most of the growers in our country, many companies have approached us to start supplying them with fresh pomegranates as well. We are planning to do that in 2009.”
FRESH FROM THE US
JMB Produce has launched a Ruby Fresh brand of prepared pomegranate arils, sourced from the Oro Loma Ranch.
The arils are packed in convenient 240g consumer-ready plastic punnets and shipped in 12-punnet display-ready boxes. The product is ready to use in salads, recipes, or straight out of the pack.
Fresh pomegranate arils are available from mid-November until March, well past the usual end of the fresh pomegranate season.
US firm JMB claims that Ruby Fresh pomegranate arils can help boost festive profits and extend them past the New Year.
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