John van Duivenbode, Juniorfruit:

"Hopefully more Florida grapefruit available for the Dutch market"

John van Duivenbode sent the photograph of the first Florida Grapefruits, which were loaded and according to expectation will be available again at Juniorfruit in Rotterdam from 26 October. The importer has again this year, grapefruit from the permanent supplier Premier Citrus Packers under hallmark Premier. The grapefruit come from the Indian River area. "From this area the grapefruit have a rich taste and are very juicy. Only this area is a little later than the middle and east of Florida. A lot of rain caused the season to start late, because it is impossible to harvest grapefruit after a long period of rain."

The importer expects that this year as well large sizes will be scarce and that most of them will be sizes 48 and 56. "Prices are very high this year and that is the result of the high cost price. In many orchards 'citrus canker' has been established and these grapefruit may not be exported to Europe under any circumstance according to European legislation," John explains. "Despite the fact that this 'citrus canker' is not harmful to health and that this is more of a cosmetic problem, orchards where this problem has been established, are not allowed to be harvested. Because of this legislation growers suffer considerable losses and things do not improve because of this.

We hope that this year a little more volume will be available for the Dutch market than last year. Importers from various countries, despite the high cost price, push exporters for supply. We are positive about the season and hope together with our supplier to market a constant quality everybody will be satisfied with" John concludes.

For more information:
John van Duivenbode
Juniorfruit
Tel: 010-2450077
Cell: 06-20261370

Publication date: Wed 17 Oct 2012