Israeli dried fruit and nuts on a platter. Photo: Gilabrand via Wikimedia Commons.

Israel’s year-round growing season has pushed it past competitors in some of the U.K.’s biggest food markets, the British Daily Mail reported on Tuesday.

Gordon Bickel, the head of Israel’s largest agricultural produce exporter Carmel Agrexco, said Israelis’ ease with European languages (many emigrated from European countries to the Jewish state), the high quality of its fruits and vegetables, and the good weather have given it an edge over many British and Spanish competitors in huge grocery chains like Tesco.

Trade between the U.K. and Israel is at an all time high, at about $7.9 billion. One in seven British National Health Service prescriptions are filled using Israeli-made drugs, the Mail reported.

The biggest U.K. exports include vehicles, pharmaceuticals and chemicals. The two also trade heavily in defense, with Prime Minister David Cameron saying “Israel’s technology is protecting British and Nato troops in Afghanistan.”

The U.K. is Israel’s largest trading partner, after the U.S., according to the report.