Israel's fresh exports - produce - Brief Article

Eurofood, Oct 11, 2001

The export of fresh agricultural produce from Israel to west Europe has promoted the transfer the country's agriculture into an intensive and innovative enterprise.

The most recent turning point in Israel's agriculture for export, since the full liberalisation of the export which started in the beginning of the 1990s, is the emphasis on growing and exporting High-Value Products (HVP); establishing niche marketing strategies, all having the potential for fetching high prices on foreign markets. The success or failure in this venture depends on three main factors: the quality of the products, the price fetched on the markets and the exchange rate of European currencies against the Israeli shekel.

The liberalisation of export structure left three major companies which export fresh produce: Agrexco, with its prestigious brand "Carmel," with nearly 85% of the total export volume; Mehadrin-Tnuport, noted for their TOP brand citrus and avocado export, and the Arava Growers.

The beginning of the autumn-winter export season starts in mid September, and more products are added to the export basket in October, including a wide range of organically-grown produce. Exports are transported to Europe twice a week.

Agrexco, the country's leading agricultural exporter, exports over 100 products, with some 4 000 farmers supplying products under contract. At the end of the season, Agrexco distributes all its net profits to the growers, "who are the real owners of the company," according to Jacob Malinovitch-Malchy, Agrexco Vice President Produce Group.

During the first 10 months of the 2000/2001 season, Agrexco's sales revenues amounted to 542m [European Dollar], compared to 527m [European Dollar] for the corresponding period the year before. As for the coming 2001/02 season, Agrexco plans to export 225 000 tonnes of vegetables, fruit, citrus and general produce.

Mehadrin-Tnuport, Israel's second largest agricultural export company, is the country's leading grower and exporter of citrus. Its total sales revenues for 2001/2002 are forecast at US$100m. Gideon Sendovsky, Export manager of the company, told Eurofood that the merger between Mehadrin and Tnuport "provides us with a greater marketing advantage for our citrus and other fresh fruit." It is estimated that the volume of export of citrus from Israel by all exporters for the forthcoming 2001/02 season will decline to 12 million cases, compared with 13.5 million cases for the 2000/01 season. Sendovsky, claims that Mehadrin-Tnuport will export nearly 8 million cases, "thus maintaining our position as the country's leading citrus exporter."

Arava Export Growers is a private company exporting fresh produce from Israel. Its two subsidiaries, Arava USA and Arava Holland, and has a sales office recently established in the UK.