Over the years there has not been a significant change to the citrus job in the UK’s wholesale markets says Geoff Wells, president of the tenants’ association in Liverpool. “There has been an overall trend towards easy peelers which have slowly been increasing their market share. Spanish produce still dominates the supply base, however there are some new kids on the block,” he summarises.
He singles out the growing presence of Turkish minneolas and citrus from Israel. Wells adds: “The Jaffa brand which was predominant in the market is not so visible any more having found different markets to promote the fruit, such as Russia and Japan.”
There are two distinct citrus seasons to cater for in the wholesale markets says Gary French, Mack’s supply chain coordinator. He says: “During the winter months the main supply still comes from Spain with oranges, easy peelers and lemons, while grapefruit comes from Israel.” Spanish citrus still dominates the London-based markets and usually provides importers with good returns at a minimal cost. “The wholesale markets usually get the fruit that is left over from the supermarket trade and supply volumes move in parallel.”
French adds that imported citrus volumes are led by supermarket demand and, if retail demand increases, there will be a proportional increase of the category in the wholesale markets.
During the summer months most of the citrus that arrives into the wholesale markets comes from a variety of countries. Mack sources easy peelers from South America and pre-packed navels come in from South Africa. “We also look at different countries such as Uruguay but the quality can be mixed. The main difference between Spanish and South American produce is that volumes arrive loose because they are sea-freighted and are then sorted and packed in the UK, while Spanish fruit arrives pre-packed,” says French.
As part of its procurement programme in China, Capespan has trialed shipments of mandarins to supply the wholesale markets. “We have been involved in China for several years with other produce but we are just testing citrus to see if there are any opportunities to develop this supply base. The fruit was sent to the wholesale markets and is popular with the Chinese retail sector,” says Hill.
He says that China throws up enormous opportunities, providing growers can get the technical aspects right. “The biggest challenge for us is to get the right balance between wholesale and retail customers. You don’t want to be too exposed to one sector in particular.”
Hart and Friedman (H&F) also procures its citrus fruit for the UK wholesale markets from a variety of countries including Turkey, Belize and Egypt. Trader Morgan Barrett says: “A few years ago we brought in fruit from Belize to service the industrial sector. The category has evolved well and we now send it to the wholesale markets. In comparison, the Turkish portion of our citrus supply base is down although lately we have had an oversupply of fruit.” Barrett adds that procuring good quality navels has improved in the last few years: “We can get navels from Morocco, Greece, Egypt and Cyprus; there are a lot of growers and the supply base is increasing. But the main driver in the category is Egypt.”
H&F is bullish on the Egyptian citrus sector and this season has tripled its volumes imported to 3,000t for the wholesale markets. The Egyptians have started to regulate their exports and quality controls, and consignments are not being stopped as much as they used to by Defra. Barrett says: “The change has been significant. One season later, and the sector has tightened up, labelling has improved, carton sizes are better, the range on offer to the UK has grown and quality has definitely improved. You will find good-eating class I navels in the wholesale markets, nicely presented in flat packs. It will only be a matter of time before the supermarkets become interested.”
However, it is the opposite case for Turkish citrus. Barrett says imports of Turkish grapefruits and lemons have declined in the last few years mainly because the fruit is being redirected to other markets such as Russia. “In terms of price, Turkish citrus is volatile and it is not viewed as a premium supply nation. When you compare prices for South African grapefruit, which can sell at 700p a box, Turkish citrus commands only half the price.”
South African citrus supply to the UK wholesale markets is very stable, says Barrett, and the category can be quite lucrative in terms of quality and price. He says: “There is a perception that South African fruit is better during the country’s citrus season and buyers will pay a premium for the produce.”
Wholesale market traders respect prices and values but the difficulty with this route to market is to guarantee supply and how the produce arrives at the market, which can taint growers perceptions.
“Some growers/exporters have had difficult experiences with the UK wholesale markets and have been lured away by other opportunities. With the introduction of supply programmes with retailers has resulted in some of the rejected fruit being “dumped” into the wholesale markets where it can receive poor returns. What growers/exporters don’t realise is that the 10-20 rejected pallets have not been marketed properly, and have been managed badly which results in low returns,” says Barrett.
There are exporters who specifically target good quality Class I citrus for sale in the wholesale markets, Barrett says.
Capesan’s satsuma campaign for the markets tend to arrive in week 13 but the main volumes arrive in week 16 and H&F waits until Spanish lemon supplies decline before bringing in South African, and oranges arrive only once Morocco is finished in mid June. And Capespan can source specific citrus for its market customers. “For four years now we have done small programmes of scarlet mandarins, which are nice-eating easy peelers, for a customer during mid-summer promotions,” says Barrett.
Belize is also an attractive supply base because of the preferential import tariffs that exist, says Barrett. “Belizean grapefruit has a toe in the door in the UK but it will improve its position and become a viable competitor to other Central American sources. It is easy to import from there because of the historical ties the countries has with the UK, a very different situation compared to Cuba.”
This season Barrett says to watch out for South African lemon supplies: “Last year there were more than seven million cartons in circulation because the growers lost a Coca Cola contract they had to supply lemons for processing. This created a huge oversupply and many lemons ended up in the UK and European wholesale sector. However this year the contract has been successfully renegotiated, so expect less volumes in the markets.”
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