Declining market performance over recent years has led some Israeli pomegranate growers to replace the world-famous Wonderful variety with other cultivars, according to one producer.

A representative pomegranate grower Edom Fruits told www.freshfruitportal.com the poor returns garnered in the Russian market of late had been a key factor in the development.

"Over the last three years the Wonderful has suffered from very low financial results. The Russian market is very weak and it is hard to bring in a good result," production manager Amir Porat said.

"With the cost to keep the Wonderful till February and March, it doesn’t bring back the investment to keep the fruit.

"So as a result some growers made the calculation and decided to cut off the trees and replace them with other varieties."

Porat estimated around 400 hectares of Wonderful trees had been removed or replaced over the last year. He said industry production would therefore not increase over 2015 levels as the new trees would need to mature.

There is the possibility production could fall slightly across the industry, but Portal said this would be 'nothing major' and in general the volumes would be stable.

Edom Fruits' export season kicked off around three weeks ago, amid production forecasts of aproximately 2,500 metric tons (MT).

Shipments started with the early varieties like Aco and Emek, and will soon include what are known as the 'sour-sweet' varieties in Israel such as the Shir - an exclusive cultivar aimed toward the German market.

"Quality-wise we had relatively nice weather in August, the weather was not as hot as August the year before," Porat said.

"So the fruit sizing and internal quality seem to be very good at the moment."

Israeli exporters are said to have been enjoying strong market conditions in Europe this month, but competition is expected to increase as the year goes on.

"In this time the market is totally clean from the Peruvian and Chilean fruit - they really want Israeli fruit in August. In September it’s a little more crowded as Spanish, Turkish, Egyptian, and even Greek fruit will arrive," he said.

"I expect September prices to be a bit more moderate than now. October is stable, November is usually a little bit weaker, but in January and February it will strengthen again.

"In general the pomegranate is a product that is growing in the supermarkets. Consumption is growing every year. Of course if you have a quality product and you work with supermarket programs in advance you will keep your prices at a higher level in the market."

Joint venture in South Africa

Recently Edom Fruits has been able to provide close to a year-round supply of the tropical fruit to the European market, thanks to a project it got involved with in South Africa.

The company has been working with growers in the country, providing them with expertise and Israeli varieties, and then exporting the fruit under the Edom brand.

"It’s a mutual business - we are with them in a joint venture. They have been growing for seven years but three years ago we asked to join the project," he said, adding an increasing number of growers were showing an interest.

"The South African season finishes at the end of April or beginning of May, and the Israeli season starts roughly one week before August. We can keep the fruit a little bit longer, so we have 10 months of supply to our clients in Europe."

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