Paramount Citrus to take Cuties nationwide

10/21/2011 2:24:39 PM
Fred Wilkinson

ATLANTA — Cuties brand California clementines and mandarins should be available nationwide starting this season.

The fruit is set to arrive in stores on the East Coast (and all of the U.S.) starting in mid-November, Scott Owens, vice president of sales and marketing for Paramount Citrus Association, said during Produce Marketing Association's Fresh Summit 2011.

Expansion markets include New York, Atlanta, Boston and Philadelphia, among others, and represent a 15% to 20% increase in the Cuties crop this year, he said.

A $20 million “Cuties are made for Kids” marketing campaign will support the effort, which includes a television and print advertising as well as retail displays.

The campaign will debut on Dec. 5, Owen said. It will feature four 15-second spots that will run in conjunction with shows such as “The Biggest Loser,” ”Community,” “Grey’s Anatomy,” “How I Met Your Mother” and “Amazing Race” among others, he said.

They will feature children peeling Cuties and will highlight the fruits appeal to kids: sweet taste, easy to peel, small size and no seeds.

The campaign will offer three FSIs and a two-page advertising spread in People magazine.

The TV ads will run again in February and March, Owens said.

Delano-based Paramount is part of the California Cutie Cooperative (along with Sun Pacific and Fowler Packing) that grows, packs and markets the fruit.

Paramount also is entering the lime market, Owens said, farming and packing from 5,000 acres in Mexico’s Tabasco region.

The company also has 2,000 combined acres of lime and lemon production near Victoria, Mexico, he said. The limes will be available throughout the U.S. and Canada, entering the U.S. through Paramount’s 50,000-square-foot McAllen, Texas, cooling facility, which the company acquired from Border Cold Storage in last summer.

Comments (3) Leave a comment 

Good, let's get more California vitamin C to the east coasters; but too bad there is so much inconsistency in flavor with Cuties....folks like mandarins that taste good.
Don't bring the Asian Citrus Psyllid in with those Mexican limes and lemons!

I love the Cuties, can't wait to see them to come out. I am not a kid, I am 71 years of age. Sometimes the stores advertise Clementines, but usually the bag says Mandarins. What is the difference. Seems the Clementines are easier to peel and taste better. But if they are the same then my taste buds are failing me. I offen wonder why they don't appear until November. Cuties are the only oranges I eat and when the go away I have to wait until they appear again. Pleawe keep them coming.

I was shopping at my nearest Wal-Mart store yesterday, buying a package of Cuties, and the store would NOT accept the 50 cent coupon I had. The check-out clerk said Wal-Mart had recently redone their computer syster and the system would not accept the Cuties coupon--she couldn't even put the coupon amount in manually and have the system accept the coupon!

I was amazed! Is something going on that we consumers need to know?

Thanks.