Israel will have between 30%-40% less avocado volumes in this 2022-23 season due to last year’s cold weather that affected flowering. According to Eitan Zvi, VP of marketing at Galilee Exports in Israel: “Due to the coldest weather in 50 years last year, that affected pollination and flowering, we are up to 40% less volumes. The sizes of the avocados are also not that big due to this. However, prices and demand for our avocados in our main markets across Europe are very good.”
“We have started the season at the end of August with the early varieties, what we call the summer varieties of green skin. At Galilee Exports we have around 35% less than last year. In green's we have now moved to other varieties. We received very good prices in Eastern Europe. In the domestic market in Israel, our sister company is giving us strong competition, especially on the big sizes. We started with limited volume of Hass a few weeks ago. Prices are very good in the market. Especially due to the shortages in the market after Peru finished the season,” explains Zvi.
Galilee Export, is one of the biggest exporters in Israel, with a number of producers across the country who supply them while they are also the main shareholders of the company.
Zvi said while it did not frost last year, it was an on-season, while this year is expected to be an off-season with lower volumes and smaller sizes. Due to the cold there was less bee activity leading to very bad pollination and eventual less flowering of trees. “The size breakdown is therefore smaller than last year, especially at start of the season due to the late blooming we had in Israel. In April temperatures improved, we had pollination. Israel is suffering from low yield. We are about to finish the Ettinger harvest during next week. We will move on to varieties such as Pinkerton and Arad, which are preferred varieties in the markets. We see an increased demand and prices. It will get even better towards the Christmas sales period. We intend to increase volumes in January in Hass, But we need to take into consideration, Israel has between 30-40% less volume compared to last year.”
Zvi says the strong Israeli Shekel compared to the Euro, remains a challenge for exporters and producers alike. “The strong Shekel is an ongoing challenge, especially when we are competing against the domestic market. Our Hass avocados are all sent to Europe - Germany, France and the UK. Our green skin avo’s are mainly sent to Eastern Europe. Our Hass avocados are not sent to the US or any other markets, our focus remains mainly on Europe, so at the end of the day our returns are less Shekels to Israeli growers. This is the market we focus on. We will be harvesting and sending Hass until April and the green skin until the start of March 2023,” states Zvi.
