Morocco
Morocco is in the process of planting many new trees. “At the beginning of the twentieth century, their date trees were affected by disease, and they cut them all down. They now have a major programme to plant new trees. France imports Medjoul dates from Morocco, but that quality’s not as good. But I think they’ll be a major competitor in future,” Avi continues. Medjoul quality from Israel is very good. “We produce very high quality dates. This year’s crop is looking very well, and quantity is also good. The earlier Medjoul will be harvested mid-August. Prices are good, even on the European market, despite the unfavorable exchange rate. The euro dropped about 12 per cent compared to the shekel. And it dropped by even more since 2015, by 20 to 25 per cent. It’s been dramatic.”
Future
“The Medjoul variety is the only one we’re increasing. We hope to have increased production by about 50,000 tonnes in 5 years. We now have a production of 38,000 tonnes. Compared to other types of dates in the world, this is a small production. I believe the competition will be tough in future, but it’ll be about five or six years before competition from Morocco starts being a problem. I still see a good future for Medjoul.”
“We’ll be working on opening new markets in future, for the increased production. Markets like South America and Asia,” Avi says. India, China and Japan are not consuming any dates now, so there’s quite a bit of potential there. “North America is also a good market, although they get their premium dates from California. They prefer our second-quality dates with lower prices.”
For more information:
Avi Dagul
Field Produce Marketing
Tel: +972-4-8522749
Fax: +972-4-8525364
avid@agrifood.co.il
www.fpmarketing.co.il