The grapefruit season in Israel is coming to an end soon. As availability slows down, demand shoots up. At the moment, most of the grapefruits still being shipped are the larger sized ones. Unfortunately, China, one of the main markets for Israeli grapefruits, prefers importing smaller sized grapefruits.
According to Betsalel Ohana, export manager for Plane Israel, the grapefruit season in Israel has been quite good so far: “The export of Grapefruit from Israel this season was very good, as well as the season for Orri mandarins. Israel exported a lot of Fruits to China, mainly Sunrise (Star Ruby) Red Grapefruits and also Sweetie Green Grapefruits. The grapefruit season in Israel is coming to an end about now, which is causing demand to skyrocket. This is due to a lack of fruits and the grapefruits that are still available are mostly larger sizes, whereas China prefers smaller sizes.”
Ohana states that both volumes and demand picked up as the grapefruit season progressed. “Volumes are similar to last season, but these volumes were a little low at the start of the season, due to the situation with coronavirus. As the season continued the demand increased over time, especially after Christmas and around Chinese New Year. And as stated before, demand is only going up at this point due to a lack of fruits.”
“We've mainly finished the export to China and to the Far East. We will continue to export Sunrise grapefruits until the end of May to markets in West-Europe such as France, Italy as well as to Eastern Europe such as Russia, Belarus etcetera. Prices for grapefruits were pretty good, around 23-25 US$/15kg carton CIF China. However, the currency rate is 3.3 New Israeli Shekel/ 1$, compared to around 3.8NIS / 1$ last season this offset the higher prices a bit. We started a new initiative under the Brand ‘Saida Farms’.” Ohana concluded.
For more information:
Betsalel Ohana
Planet Israel
Tel: +972 54 738 3436
Email: israel@planetfareast.com
www.planetisrael.farm