The California citrus season began two to three weeks ahead of 2025, says Joel Yeary, commodity director for Kings River Packing Co. This early start led to an aggressive opening fob, he adds.
“While a lingering volume of import fruit in the marketplace has caused a slightly slower initial start to our domestic movement, we are confident that momentum will accelerate rapidly as we transition into November and import volumes clear out,” he says.
While it’s early, Sunkist Growers is encouraged by how the season has kicked off, says Cassie Howard, senior director of category management and marketing.
“With volume up and a better size structure expected, we’re optimistic about retail movement heading into the holidays,” she says. “Pricing will depend on supply, demand and the weather, as it always does, so we’re staying close to customers week to week.”
Howard adds that retailers can expect volume to be up along with a more favorable size structure.
“Navels in particular should run larger as the season goes on, with the biggest fruit coming after the first of the year,” she says. “That’s good news for bag and bulk promotions, but sizing can shift through the season, so we’re encouraging retailers to build programs that can flex across a range of sizes.”
Yeary also says this year’s crop mirrors last year in many ways. Early-season navels will lean smaller in the 88, 113 and 138 sizes, but he says retailers can expect sizing to improve as the season goes on.
“Sizing will improve as we transition into midseason varieties in late November and early December, where the crop is expected to peak on 56s, 72s and 48s,” he says.
Specialty Citrus Takes Center Stage
Cara caras are the fastest-growing item for Kings River Packing Co. Yeary says the company markets nearly a third of all cara caras from California. Kings River Packing Co. expects more year-over-year growth, driven by consumer demand.
“We are projecting another major volume increase this season, along with an early start,” Yeary says. “It is the perfect window to book promotions and capture more sales.”
Howard says along with cara caras, blood oranges are also a variety on the move this season, as the cara cara harvest begins in November and blood oranges start shortly after in December.
“Cara cara volume was up 24% versus the year before during the holiday season and kickoff to the new year last winter, according to Circana, so this is a good window to stock up early and promote specialty citrus for the holidays,” she says.
Howard says organic fruit volume is also up this season, “with new growers and younger trees coming into production, so there’s more organic fruit to work with across the lineup.”
Positioning Citrus for Peak Holiday Sales
As shoppers continue to prioritize value, Howard says Sunkist offers retailers options that hit at different price points.
“Multiple bag sizes and strong in-store merchandising give stores room to run value promotions without giving up the quality shoppers expect,” she says. “Opportunities this season focus on bag programs that deliver both value and convenience.”
Howard says Sunkist also plans a 4-pound navel holiday bag for more merchandising options through the holiday season. Other promotions include the “Power with the Pink Orange” partnership with the National Breast Cancer Foundation.
“This season we’re adding a new organic 3-pound cara cara Giro bag that ties into the program,” she says.
Sunkist also plans to expand its Sunkist Cali mandarin program with 2- and 3-pound organic Giro bags.
She says the season will continue into the new year with murcotts and tangos in early January “so retailers can keep mandarins in the mix well into the new year.”
Yeary says close collaboration across the supply chain is proving essential for driving holiday sales volumes in a tight market.
“We believe consistent, planned promotions throughout the holiday season are the most effective strategy to maintain momentum, and we work hand-in-hand with our retail partners to ensure they can pass those aggressive values along to their shoppers,” he says.
Mitigating Supply Chain Volatility
Howard says freight is again a pressure point, and Sunkist communicates with its customers on timing and pack formats.
“Our Consolidation Center helps us move faster and keep shipments efficient,” she says. “Having a range of formats, including smaller bags, also gives retailers flexibility on price points when freight costs affect how they buy.”
Yeary says Kings River Packing monitors freight costs daily and maintains a network of reliable long-term carrier partners.
“We are leveraging these strong relationships to secure competitive freight rates, allowing us to insulate our customers from market volatility and pass along savings wherever possible heading into the busy holiday pull,” he says.
Weather is another challenge in an El Niño year, one that Howard and Yeary say their companies watch closely.
Howard says Sunkist has built a plan around El Niño, which can disrupt packing and harvesting, utilizing the flexibility of its network to continue a steady supply.
“We’re picking ahead of rain events to keep supply steady, and we’re balancing grove practices, harvest timing and packing across our districts to reduce weather-related risk,” she says. “With packinghouses in every growing district, we have the flexibility to shift volume and keep fruit moving, even if storms disrupt part of the season.”
Yeary says Kings River Packing has a geographically diverse grower network in California’s Central Valley, which helps the company mitigate weather disruptions and harvest in unaffected regions to ensure uninterrupted supply.
“Additionally, our logistical network includes four packinghouses in the Fresno-Sanger area, each equipped with extensive storage capacity to preserve fruit quality during extended weather events,” he says.
Key Windows for Retail Growth
Looking ahead to opportunities this season, Yeary identifies two main areas. The first is managing the transition from clementines to later-season tangos and murcotts, which can present supply challenges for retailers.
“This season, a substantial volume increase in our page mandarin program offers our partners complete peace of mind, ensuring a seamless and uninterrupted supply chain during the vital holiday promotional window for the category’s top-volume item,” he says.
The second is larger-sized fruit this year across several varieties.
“Our strategy is to stay ahead of the trees by proactively aligning with our retail partners to establish consistent, right-priced large-fruit promotions so we maintain a steady shipping pace through the entirety of the season,” he says.
For Howard, it’s all about timing. She says there’s built-in nostalgia for retailers to capitalize on with navels, noting Circana data that showed holiday navel volume rose 5% in 2025 compared with 2024.
“Navels have been part of the holidays for generations, and plenty of shoppers remember finding one in their stocking,” she says.
Also, with cara cara and blood orange season hitting one after the other, she says “retailers have a full window of promotable specialty citrus right as holiday demand builds.”
