The red grapefruit season started quite early, which is usually a good thing because there's typically good demand early on, said Oron Ziv of BeFresh. But when Israeli growers got their early supplies to market there were already plentiful stocks left from South Africa. That glut of fruit made for low prices.
The market has been very disappointing for red grapefruit, said Ziv. We shipped some containers, but to be honest, most growers have stopped harvesting their grapefruit until we can get rid of existing stocks and wait for the market to be empty of South African supplies. While he hopes the situation will improve, Ziv knows that the longer there's an oversupply in the market the more dire the situation will become because Turkey begins their season in October and Florida grapefruit usually starts shipping in November. If the market doesn't clear soon, it might stay oversupplied throughout the year.
But the situation for Israeli pomelos is different, noted Ziv. While the season for that citrus commodity also got off to an early start, the market was relatively clear of surplus fruit. Chinese pomelos have steadily edged out Israeli supplies throughout the last several years, but with fewer shipments from China this year, and with waning supplies from Israel due to increased
Chinese competition, Israeli suppliers selling pomelos are enjoying a good market right now.
There's less fruit coming from China on one side, and there's not much coming from Israel on the other side, said Ziv. So there's a good balance in the market right now for pomelos. White pomelos will soon be available as well as sweeties, but Ziv noted that it's much too early to know how the market for those commodities will do.
BeFresh also has Galia melons available, though they're entering the homestretch for that season. Like many commodities this year, harvesting for Galia melons began early. But good weather, with mild summer temperatures, meant that growers were able to put out a steady supply of fruit with no spikes in production throughout the whirlwind five-week season. This will be the final week of harvesting for the grower that supplies BeFresh's Galia melons, and supplies should be available for about three more weeks.
It's a short season for us that lasts about four or five weeks between the Spanish and Brazilian seasons, said Ziv. We've shipped more than 900 tons of melons this season, and with a few more weeks to go, it's all gone quite nicely.
Shipments of avocados are also coming online, though as with pomelos and sweeties, Ziv said it's too early to tell how the season will play out.
At the moment, prices for avocados are okay; not extremely high, but not low, said Ziv. Things can change when more volume comes onto the market, but for the moment, it looks like a normal to good situation.
Befresh Europe works closely with Direct Source International in the Netherlands. Western European buyers can go through Direct Source International to import our Israeli products.
For more information:
Oron Ziv
BeFresh Europe
Mobile +972 52 3252464
Mobile +31 6 22514987
Office +972 72 2555135
Fax +972 153 547625599
oron@befreshcorp.com
www.BeFreshcorp.com