Avi Kadan on the left and Dudu Ivri on the right checking the quality of the arrivals
“The quality of grapes that arrived is better than what we expected,” said Avi Kadan of Adafresh. Working with Indian growers, he brought 10 containers of Indian grapes to Holland. Sizes have been 16, 17 and 18, and brix has been upwards of 16, so he's very encouraged by the quality of Thompson seedless grapes that made it into Europe. The grapes that have arrived are currently selling for around nine euros per 4.5 kilogram punnet and around 10 euros per 5.0 kilogram punnet.
“We have a very good feeling about what we got,” Avi said. “The plan for next season is to work with an Israeli agronomist to continue getting very good quality and, eventually, build a packing house in India.” Dudu/ Ivri, former CEO of Tali Grapes, who is also involved in the deal, is also optimistic about the future of the program.
“Next year, we will start at the beginning of the Indian season,” Dudu said. “We'd like to set aside blocks of production where we will prepare grapes especially for the export market. The model for us is in South Africa, where they grow grapes that are shipped all over the world.” Once the Thompson seedless is firmly established in the market, Dudu said they'll expand production into other varieties. But for now, he sees great things in Europe for the Thompsons they have.
“There is market capacity for fine white seedless grapes in Europe in this period,” said Dudu. “We believe that we can get consumption up in Europe if we get higher quality Indian grapes there.” His experience running one of the largest grower cooperatives in Israel has served as the background for how he sees the project developing. Rather than just having Indian growers as suppliers, he wants to work with them as partners in order to get the best grapes he can.
“When growers are partners in this they feel closer to the business and we get the best product for our customers,” said Dudu. “The main issue is now shifting local Indian production from being for the local market to being for export. The growers there understand this, and they want to change to meet the specifications necessary for entry into the European market.”
For more information:
Avi Kadan
Adafresh LTD
Tel: +972 73 2332223
Mob: +972 52 3336545
[email protected]
www.adafresh.co.il
