Although production for grapefruits and citrus in general is dropping in Israel, it's still one of the major players when it comes to export revenue, says Betsalel Ohana, export manager for Israeli citrus exporter Planet Israel:
"According to the Worldbank, Israel is the 4th country in the world in terms of yearly export revenues of grapefruits, after China, the Netherlands and South Africa, and ahead of Spain and Turkey. The main varieties of grapefruits in Israel are White Marsh, Red Grapefruits, such as Sunrise or also called Star Ruby, Rio Red and Redson as well as Sweetie Green grapefruits. The season started in September with Sweetie and will end around the end of May, with the red grapefruits varieties."
Ohana emphasizes that the drop in production is nothing new, but actually has been a trend that can be seen over the past few seasons. "The grapefruits production portion in Israel is about 30% of the total citrus production, consisting mainly of red grapefruits. The total grapefruits production in the last season 2023/2024 was 144,000 tons. These grapefruits were mainly destined for the industry, a a volume of 98,000 tons, which is 68%. About 33,000 tons, or 23%, was for export purposes and the final 13,000 tons, or 9%, was produced for the local market. The production of grapefruits for Israel totalled at 144,000 tons this season, continuing the reduction of production compared to the previous season. As 2022/2023 had an Israeli production of 155,000 tons, where 2021/2022 had a production of 175,000 tons."
The Israeli currency has helped prevent further disaster and actually countered some of the drops in production, Ohana explains: "The reduction of the citrus production, specifically the grapefruit production, and export activities were influenced by the war that was started in our region last year. This created a lack of manpower in the fields, plantation and in the packing houses. The local currency rates (the NIS) compared to the Euro and to the US$ were higher than the yearly average, which contributed to reduce the dropped generated revenue from the lower production this year."
"The main competition of the Israeli grapefruits in terms of prices comes from Spain, Turkey and Egypt. The tough weather conditions in other countries, such as strong droughts in Spain, reduced the total quantities in the markets. This helped to keep good prices and balance demand and supply. We are looking forward to starting a hopefully successful next season 2024/2025 soon," Ohana concludes.
For more information:
Betsalel Ohana
Planet Israel Farms
Tel: +972 54 738 3436
Email: [email protected]
www.planetisrael.farm