UK supermarkets welcomed the first arrivals of Israel’s Jaffa Shamouti oranges this week. The fruit is being brought in by Mehadrin Tnuport Export’s UK branch and the first shipment docked on January 17 with fruit in most stores from January 20.
The season is kicking off in line with last year’s start and peak volumes are forecast throughout February and March winding down towards a finish at the end of April.
"Eating quality of first arrivals is excellent," said Dov Warmen, managing director of MTex’s UK office. He added that the company expects fruit sizes on average to be larger than last year and there will therefore be a lower volume of smaller fruit available for export. A spokesman for the company said that the size profile this year should match UK requirements very well: "The UK market actually prefers the larger sizes so this fits in nicely with the offer."
Growing conditions have been "ideal" for Shamouti according to MTex. "There have been high levels of winter rainfall but no hail," said Warmen. The plentiful rainfall levels - higher than last year - are likely to have contributed to the large sizes of fruit.
MTex controls some 85 per cent of Israel’s Jaffa-branded Shamouti. Almost two-thirds of this is exported and the UK accounts for 40 per cent of the export total.
Export volumes are forecast to be similar to last season as renewed plantings come on stream. There are two tranches to MTex’s Shamouti re-planting programme with regeneration of traditional orchards in the area of Sharon in central Israel, as well as plantings in areas previously not given over to citrus - most notably the northern Negev area and southern Israel where both land and water are cheaper.
Marketing of Shamouti in the UK will be dominated once again this season by pre-packs at the major multiples with just an estimated 10 per cent sold loose.
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