The avocado season is not yet in full swing at Galilee Exports. “At the moment, we have only greenskins”, says Marketing VP, Eitan Zvi. “Soon we will start to sell the Hass variety, but it will be in light volumes.
In January, we have greenskins, as well as Hass, available.” At the moment, this Israeli exporter has the Ettinger variety of greenskin avocado available. “We will start sending Pinkertons in week 47 or 48”, says Eitan.
He admits that volumes have been lower this year. “The situation with the Ettinger crop is a bit better than for the Pinkerton crop”, Eitan explains. “The yield percentage is higher than average. Usually it is around 70%, now it is more like 85%.” He added that although the volume is lower than usual, it is reasonable.
“Therefore, prices for Ettingers are higher than the average at this time of the year”, says Eitan. According to him, in the past, prices have been EUR 5 in November, where they are more than EUR 7 this year. He also expects prices to climb even further when the Pinkerton season kicks off, since there will be more of a reduction of volumes of Ettingers from Israel. “I expect prices of at least EUR 10,” says Eitan.
The sizes of the fruit is normal, with some areas having avocados that are a little bit smaller. “”The quality is, however, better than previous years. I hope it remains this way until the end of the season”, he says. He adds that demand for avocados is stable at the moment. “The concern is supply”, he says. “There is a lack of Hass on the market at the moment, which influences the Ettingers. Hass are very expensive at the moment, between EUR 14 and 15.”
Most of Galilee Exporter's customers order greenskin avocados, and they supply quite a lot of this variety, directly or indirectly, to Russia and Eastern Europe. Supermarkets in other European countries, including the UK, are supplied with Hass avocados. “The market in China is not yet open for Israeli avocados”, says Eitan. “Here and there, we send small volumes by air, but this could, of course, change in the future.”
For more information:
Eitan Zvi
Tel: +9 72 365 39 014
Mob: +9 72 544 859 344