Consumers in Russia appear to have acquired a taste for South Africa’s navel oranges. As the Citrus Growers’ Association (CGA) looks back on a season that didn’t quite meet expectations, there was an interesting anomaly in the top five export destinations. As with grapefruit and lemons, Netherlands remains the number one importer at 57 000 tonnes. They were followed by Saudi Arabia (33 000 tonnes), UAE (30 000 tonnes) and China (29 000 tonnes). “Making an appearance from nowhere at number five was Russia – rising from 19 000 tonnes in 2018 to 24 000 tonnes in 2019,” says the CGA’s Justin Chadwick. Navel orange packing for exports was at 24.3 million cartons, almost 10% down on the March estimate of 26.9 million.