Grapefruit season by country (2026)

Grapefruit season by country

When South Africa and Israel ship grapefruit, month by month, and how the two halves of a shrinking trade hand over to each other.

Peak supply April–July, November–February from South Africa and Israel. No origin on this page is at peak in March, August–October.

Grapefruit export calendar: which origin ships in which month.
Origin	January	February	March	April	May	June	July	August	September	October	November	December
South Africa April–July peak · March, August shoulder	January: Not shipping	February: Not shipping	March: Shoulder	April: Peak	May: Peak	June: Peak	July: Peak	August: Shoulder	September: Not shipping	October: Not shipping	November: Not shipping	December: Not shipping
Israel November–February peak · March–April, October shoulder	January: Peak	February: Peak	March: Shoulder	April: Shoulder	May: Not shipping	June: Not shipping	July: Not shipping	August: Not shipping	September: Not shipping	October: Shoulder	November: Peak	December: Peak

Peak — shipping in volume Shoulder — opening or closing Export windows out of the origin, not arrival weeks. Add the lane's transit.

Last reviewed August 2026. Windows are editorial ranges for a normal year, not a published schedule, and they are export weeks out of the origin rather than arrival weeks in your market.

Grapefruit is a shrinking trade with a stubborn core of demand, and these two origins cover most of the year between them. South Africa runs through the Northern Hemisphere spring and summer, filling the gap left when Florida, Texas and the Mediterranean have finished; Israel runs the Northern Hemisphere winter on the other side of it.

Star Ruby and Marsh are the varieties a European buyer will see on both. The Israeli row also carries the Sweetie — a green-skinned pomelo cross that looks unripe and is not, which is a merchandising problem rather than a shipping one. Grapefruit is the most chilling-tolerant of the citrus on this page and travels comfortably, which is why the export trade survived at all as the growing regions shrank.

South Africa

April–July peak · March, August shoulder Varieties: Star Ruby, Marsh Load ports: Cape Town, Durban, and Gqeberha

Roughly March to August, out of Limpopo and Mpumalanga. South Africa is the Southern Hemisphere origin serving a shrinking but stubborn Northern Hemisphere grapefruit demand.

Grapefruit is the most chilling-tolerant citrus on this page and travels comfortably, which is why the trade survived as the growing regions contracted. It is also subject to cold sterilisation requirements into the EU — a mandated in-transit temperature regime, not a recommendation, and a container that breaches it is rejected at arrival.

Everything South Africa ships, month by month · South Africa → Rotterdam

Israel

November–February peak · March–April, October shoulder Varieties: Star Ruby, Sweetie Load ports: Ashdod and Haifa

Roughly October to April out of the coastal plain. Two products share the row: red Star Ruby, which competes with Florida and South Africa, and the Sweetie — a pomelo-grapefruit cross, green-skinned and low in acid — which competes with nothing because almost nobody else grows it.

Grapefruit is among the more forgiving citrus in a container, but the Sweetie is sold on a skin colour that buyers have to be taught to read: it looks unripe and is not. That is a merchandising problem at the far end rather than a shipping one, and it is worth knowing before the first pallet lands.

Everything Israel ships, month by month

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