Florida used to produce 54 million cartons of 18 kilograms of grapefruit. After the hurricanes of 2004 the production went down to 14 million cartons. The industry was able to climb back to 20-22 million, but this year, due to hurricane Irma, production went down to 5 million.
Bruno Edery of Beva Fruits International says, “The whole paradox of this is that, regardless of the decrease in volumes, which means increase in pricing, the French market is still requesting Florida.”
The French market is the second largest market for Florida Grapefruit after Japan. Bruno Edery: “The French, being big consumers of grapefruit, always privileged Florida. Only one or two out of nine chain stores have abandoned Florida, despite the fact it costs about three times more than varieties from other countries. The prices vary from 24 up to 34 euros, while Turkish grapefruit costs 9-10 euro. In this product line consumers only want quality. Many growers in the world who produce other grapefruit, like Israel or Mexico, will tell you they can never compete with Florida.”
Bruno Edery sees a bright light ahead for the future of Florida Grapefruit. “It was a very challenging year. Still, the French consumer is requesting Florida. Our fruit doesn’t touch ground since everything that’s coming in is sold right away. We have no stock. The high demand proves that the quality speaks for itself.”
Close partnership with the biggest grower
Beva Fruits International is in the top two distributors in France for grapefruit. Also, it represents Florida’s biggest grower of Red Grapefruit, Scott Marketing. Bruno Edery: “We have been partners with them for 23 years. In a very triangular way, we practically serve all of the French retailers in grapefruit from Florida.” Bruno Edery: “When we started with Scott in 1995, our goal was to build value added through branding. We worked endless hours on packaging, labelling and most of all the sticker on the fruit. We wanted the consumer to identify the fruit they were buying. That’s why every Scott Grapefruit contains the USA flag and the Scott Logo. Through an excellent tasting piece of fruit, the consumer can identify what they have purchased. There’s a lot of brand equity involved in Scott.”
Indian River Fruit
All of the grapefruit from Scott Marketing is produced in the Indian River zone. Bruno Edery: “Compared to other growing production areas in Florida, the Indian River zone grows a very high-quality grapefruit, making river fruit a reference.”
For more information:
Beva Fruits International
Tel: +33 1 41 80 08 08