PW-ACTUA MTEX expects to match Israeli earlies The Israeli production and export company Mehadrin Tnuport Export (MTEX) expects to market considerably more earlies this potato season than they did last year. The fact is that the company expects to be able to export a total of 65,000 to 70,000 tons of potatoes, of which 25,000 to 30,000 tons to the West European market. Last year, Israel was confronted with drastically-reduced production due to severe frost problems in January. This meant that production also stopped at MTEX at about 35,000 tons. ‘However, the rise in quantity is not only due to the lower quantity in 2008, but also to the extra production capacity in the Negev desert’, explains Dirk Willem Blijleven, sales director at MTEX in Barendrecht. France early this year ‘In mid February, we delivered the first early potatoes of this year to one of the biggest retailers in France. This is reasonably early when compared to previous years’, says Blijleven. ‘We were a bit surprised to tell the truth. Normally, Germany is one of the first West European countries to import Israeli firstearly potatoes, France being a few weeks later. The reason for this unusual purchase from France must be due to the fact that the quality of the French potatoes is not so good when compared to previous years’, says Blijleven. Germany still at the top The sales director observed, however, that Germany is still the bigger market in Western Europe for MTEX early potatoes from Israel. The company sells a considerable quantity of its potatoes to discounters such as Aldi and Lidl and, via the small-packaging company Böhmer, to supermarkets such as Edeka. In the Netherlands, MTEX also sees the quantity of potatoes increasing. Smallpackaging company Jansen Dongen is one of their customers here. To optimise the MTEX has started extra potato fields in the Negev desert. flow of potatoes and to keep the costs as low as possible, MTEX collaborates with various logistics services in Europe. As a result, MTEX now has the use of cooling facilities in Bremer-Hafen, Hamburg, Koper, Antwerp and Barendrecht. Crop manager Asher Golan (l) and general manager Oron Ziv check the quality. New varieties still important Besides the Netherlands and Germany, there are also supply lines at various packaging companies and retailers in Belgium and Denmark, according to a pre-determined programme. As a result of the extra quantities, MTEX expects the export market share to increase from 20 percent in 2008 to 25 and 35 percent in 2009. The total export of early potatoes from Israel is estimated to be 240,000 tons. The most regular varieties that MTEX handles are Ditta, Nicola, Alfa, Vivaldi, Marabel and Santé. They also have a few new varieties such as Annabel and Melody. The varieties are tested in close collaboration with seed potato companies in the Netherlands such as HZPC. ● MTEX IN FIGURES With over 8,500 hectares of arable land, Mehadrin Tnuport Export (MTEX) is one of the biggest private growers of vegetables and fruit. The company started 50 years ago as a grower of citrus trees. Today, the company grows a wide range of products, and sells under the popular Jaffa brand. The company has a turnover of approximately 230 million euros every year, of which 70 percent is from exports. Potato World 2009 • number 2 13 Pagina 12
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