The fig season in Israel started well with good demand from Europe. David Levin, the CEO and marketing director of Zohara Farms, says: "We started and are already in the peak harvest period. The fruit looks and tastes fantastic."
He says the demand in Europe is very good. There's also not many sources of supply on the market. Spain will also start sending to the UK market from next week. "We started to deliver mainly to Europe, next week we start with the UK. Fortunately, the market really demand the figs. Brazil is almost at the end of sending, while Peru is not there on a big scale, and there are some figs from Italy and Spain too."
However, the good demand does not mean higher prices in Europe, says Levin. "Prices are average and the same as last year. We believe the price will suit the buyer. Now the airline from Israel has sufficient capacity to Europe, making the airfreight cost more reasonable."
Levin describes the warmer summer weather in Europe that causes people to "eat sweet fruit like figs that is more in demand." He says they are seeing a year of normal harvest volumes. "It is a normal year, we will not have a lower yield. The season is only in the early stages now, but looks very promising in terms of yield capacity, with good colour and taste of the figs."
Zohara Farm will also start the pomegranate season from the end of this month. "It looks good and promising to start from the end of this month with the very early varieties."
Last year, they struggled to find enough labour, with many of the foreign workers returning to their countries. "Most of the foreign labour that was working here are back. We are in the South to Centre of the country in our area, we have all the capacity, I'm quite optimistic for this year's figs season," says a hopeful Levin.
For more information:
David Levin
Zohara Farm
Tel: +972 523 691 333
Email: [email protected]