The California citrus industry brings in over $2 billion annually and accounts for 22,000 jobs.
Although cultivation can be found throughout the state, most production comes from Tulare, Kern, Ventura, Riverside, and San Diego counties, with fruit available most of the year.
It all began centuries ago with Spanish explorers from Mexico who planted lemon and orange trees—which William Wolfskill then used to establish the first commercial citrus grove in present-day Los Angeles.
Eliza and Luther Tibbets of Riverside are credited with the next phase: planting a Brazilian orange variety with a distinctive ‘navel.’ The fruit took well to the climate, was seedless, exceptionally sweet, and ripened in winter. The rest, as they say, is history and today.
Weather Conditions and Flavor Citrus trees were minimally impacted by California’s drought, due to highly developed irrigation systems. Though most predict a smaller crop than last year, the 2017-18 season should bring in around 70 million cartons.
Heather Mulholland, COO of Mulholland Citrus in Orange Grove, says many existing orchards were at their peak last season. There were also many “new plantings in the last few years and those trees are starting to bear.” Pricing, too, has been favorable. “We’re especially optimistic about prices in the mandarin category.”
“This year may be 10 percent lighter on navels, but with lighter volume you get bigger size,” shares Jeff Olsen, president of Chuck Olsen Company in Visalia. “Fluctuations in temperature makes the trees work harder and more nutrients get to the fruit, creating a higher sugar content.”
“Size is impacted by water,” adds Joan Wickham, director of advertising and public relations at Sunkist Growers cooperative in Valencia. “As for taste—weather, soil, and California’s ideal climate of warm days and cool nights all contribute to achieving that perfect balance of sweet and tart.”
Pablo Mercado, Sr., sales director for Citrus Plus, Inc., echoes Wickham’s thoughts, taking it a step further. “Less water means a higher concentration of sugars, though the fruit may not look as good,” he explains. “Big retailers care more about the cosmetic quality of fruit because consumers are willing to pay more. It’s kind of a tradeoff—good looks versus sweetness.”
Domestic Sales Florida’s challenges have proven beneficial to California producers. Joel Nelsen is president and CEO of the Exeter-based California Citrus Mutual, which represents over 2,500 citrus growers. “California supplies 85 percent of the nation’s fresh citrus; on average, even without citrus greening and hurricanes, we were number-one in fresh orange production for the last 40 years or so. Florida produces fruit for juice; we mostly compete with ourselves in the fresh market, although citrus from Spain and other Mediterranean countries can affect our efforts.”
The California citrus industry brings in over $2 billion annually and accounts for 22,000 jobs.
Although cultivation can be found throughout the state, most production comes from Tulare, Kern, Ventura, Riverside, and San Diego counties, with fruit available most of the year.
It all began centuries ago with Spanish explorers from Mexico who planted lemon and orange trees—which William Wolfskill then used to establish the first commercial citrus grove in present-day Los Angeles.
Eliza and Luther Tibbets of Riverside are credited with the next phase: planting a Brazilian orange variety with a distinctive ‘navel.’ The fruit took well to the climate, was seedless, exceptionally sweet, and ripened in winter. The rest, as they say, is history and today.
Weather Conditions and Flavor Citrus trees were minimally impacted by California’s drought, due to highly developed irrigation systems. Though most predict a smaller crop than last year, the 2017-18 season should bring in around 70 million cartons.
Heather Mulholland, COO of Mulholland Citrus in Orange Grove, says many existing orchards were at their peak last season. There were also many “new plantings in the last few years and those trees are starting to bear.” Pricing, too, has been favorable. “We’re especially optimistic about prices in the mandarin category.”
“This year may be 10 percent lighter on navels, but with lighter volume you get bigger size,” shares Jeff Olsen, president of Chuck Olsen Company in Visalia. “Fluctuations in temperature makes the trees work harder and more nutrients get to the fruit, creating a higher sugar content.”
“Size is impacted by water,” adds Joan Wickham, director of advertising and public relations at Sunkist Growers cooperative in Valencia. “As for taste—weather, soil, and California’s ideal climate of warm days and cool nights all contribute to achieving that perfect balance of sweet and tart.”
Pablo Mercado, Sr., sales director for Citrus Plus, Inc., echoes Wickham’s thoughts, taking it a step further. “Less water means a higher concentration of sugars, though the fruit may not look as good,” he explains. “Big retailers care more about the cosmetic quality of fruit because consumers are willing to pay more. It’s kind of a tradeoff—good looks versus sweetness.”
Domestic Sales Florida’s challenges have proven beneficial to California producers. Joel Nelsen is president and CEO of the Exeter-based California Citrus Mutual, which represents over 2,500 citrus growers. “California supplies 85 percent of the nation’s fresh citrus; on average, even without citrus greening and hurricanes, we were number-one in fresh orange production for the last 40 years or so. Florida produces fruit for juice; we mostly compete with ourselves in the fresh market, although citrus from Spain and other Mediterranean countries can affect our efforts.”
Mexico, too, is a rival. “In the last three or four years, Mexico has been exporting more oranges to California,” observes Mercado. “Their season is late November to early April and impacts Arizona as well as California.”
“The East Coast may bring in some mandarin oranges from Spain and Mor-occo,” points out Mulholland, “but in the mandarin category, fruit from the South-ern Hemisphere is largely out of the marketplace by the time the domestic season is in full swing.”
Adds Wickham, “All domestic production supports each other. Texas and Florida don’t compete with California head-to-head—there are different commodities. Our industry works together to manage supply.”
Export Competition Citrus cultivation requires relatively low labor and thrives much of the year in 140 countries. Brazil, China, the United States, Mexico, and India are the top producers; top exporters include Turkey, South Africa, the United States, European Union, and Egypt.
“California faces the most export competition from Egypt,” explains Wickham. “That can be a challenge in Asia, particularly the Indian market.” China is a rival too, with lower shipping costs, but has had quality issues. Both Canada and East Coast receivers buy from Spain and Morocco, but she says, “It’s not a huge factor; we import fruit from other regions in an effort to support California citrus—if we can’t supply year-round, we lose our shelf space.”
Mercado explains that California competes for Valencia exports with Mexico, while for navel oranges it’s Chile, Brazil, Australia, and South Africa. Mulholland adds, “When it comes to mandarins, it’s hard to get into the European Union. Spain offers a great product and has the geographical advantage. There really isn’t anyone else that’s competition for mandarin exports.”
The HLB Challenge California growers are working diligently to prevent citrus greening or Huanglongbing (HLB) disease from reaching commercial groves; since 2012 there have been 73 cases in Southern California, primarily in commercial groves.
“There have been several outbreaks of HLB in backyard fruit, primarily in the Los Angeles basin,” explains Alyssa Houtby, director of government affairs at California Citrus Mutual, and these backyard trees present the greatest threat. Ironically, HLB was also found near UC Riverside, site of the Citrus Variety Collection research facility.
Growers and the state are using big money to avert the spread of HLB: the California Citrus Pest and Disease Pre-vention Committee has implemented a program to raise $15 million per year by assessing a fee on every 40-pound carton produced.
Grower Innovation California’s sustainability and innovation are at the root of its citrus industry. “We’re the industry that put the first research station together with the University of California almost 100 years ago,” cites Nelsen. “We were the first to utilize beneficial insects and the first to adopt low volume irrigation. Today, growers are out there with iPads and apps that relate frost conditions, irrigation needs, and insect pressures.”
“We’ve never waited until consumers demanded sustainability,” emphasizes Mulholland. “We’ve employed solar energy, micro-irrigation, and recyclable packaging. There is no waste at packing point: if the fruit is not first grade, it goes to juice, food banks, and cattle feed.”
As for technological breakthroughs, “We’re seeing a boom of technology touching the agriculture industry; those who aren’t quick adapters will be left behind,” warns Mulholland.
Wickham sums it up this way: “Citrus farming hasn’t changed all that much. There have certainly been improvements, but nothing speaks to sustainability more than one family farming the same land for generations.”
