For Israeli avocado growers around the Sea of Galilee which grows mainly Pinkerton, this has been an especially good season that brought good yields as well as strong prices. But for some growers around the southern part of the Sea of Galilee, a strong market has not been enough to offset disappointing yields.
“Prices will be a relief for those with low yields,” acknowledged Eitan Zvi of Galilee Export, “but there won't be anyone getting rich. When your yield is 10 tons per hectare, you're not complaining about the price, but you're also not going to celebrate.” An additional worry for growers with orchards in remote areas has been the presence of small bands of thieves who make regular, well-organized raids to steal avocados. While losses from that kind of theft aren't debilitating, the amount of fruit stolen is not insignificant.
Galilee Export is a cooperative of growers that grow to be the second largest exporter of fresh produce out of Israel so Galilee awareness to their growers problem/needs is significant.
Most of the exported avocados are shipped to Europe, though a small amount of Pinkertons are exported to South Africa. Eitan explained that Israel's shipping distribution has as much to do with a strong European market as it has to do with the complications that come with trying to ship avocados to the rest of the world.
“Avocados cannot hold very long,” he said. “The only variety that can go out is the Pinkerton. But even if we could clear the phytosanitary hurdles in some places, it wouldn't make sense to go somewhere like North America, where Mexico ships a lot of avocados, if there's a good European market.”
For the exports that do go to Europe, green-skinned varieties typically go to Italy, Russia, Poland and Eastern Europe. Hass avocados typically go to the U.K., France, Germany, Scandinavia and the rest of Western Europe. While there is some overlap, that's the way exports generally break down.
“Small sizes, like those from 26 to 32, also sell well in the U.K.,” said Eitan. “They have sold those in bags for many years there.” Something that is relatively new is Galilee's ripening program based in the south of France. Eitan explained that Galilee receives avocados from Peru, Chile and Mexico in addition to Israeli avocados in order to ripen them and sell them ready-to-eat in European supermarkets. That program is going well, as are avocado programs in general.
“Demand for avocados in U.K. supermarkets has increased by 30 percent every year for the last four years,” said Eitan. “One chain reported sales growth of 50 percent from one year to the next. Demand was increasing slowly for several years, but now the popularity of avocados in Europe is growing dramatically.”
