High on the lists of global health fads, the avocado is in hot demand. The Israeli avocado season is now underway and according to Itzik Cohen, CEO of the Israel Fruit Growers Association, “2016 looks like it will be a very good year for business.”
“There is an increase in avocado demand every year. Israeli farmers can’t keep up with the demand,” Cohen tells ISRAEL21c.
According to Cohen, Israel exported 60,000 tons of the fruit in 2015. This year, the Israeli Agriculture International portal announced that it expects an avocado yield of almost 100,000 tons of fruit. Of that, 70 percent will be earmarked for export.
Israeli avocados are exported to France, the UK, Germany, the Netherlands, Scandinavian countries and Russia.
“The Israeli avocado has an important share of the European market and the country’s geographic proximity constitutes an important advantage. The fruit can be transported by sea cargo in refrigerated containers. It takes four to five days for the fruit sent by ship in refrigerated containers to reach the market in Europe, whereas it takes between 10 days and two weeks for the competitors’ produce to reach the same markets,” says Reuven Dor, coordinator for the Avocado Section of the Plants Production and Marketing Board.
The main varieties of avocado grown in Israel for export are Ettinger, Hass (black-skinned), Fuerte, Pinkerton and Reed. A few other varieties are grown for the local market only, such as the newly patented Galil.
“The Galil variety is of interest because it can be harvested early,” says Irihimovitch of the buttery, light-yellow fruit with a green skin. “People in Israel can buy it in August. The downside is that it has a short shelf life.”
Two other cultivars patented and recently planted in commercial orchards in Israel are the Hass-like Naor and Lavi varieties of avocados, soon to be marketed locally.
