Florida anticipates high-quality crop thanks to favorable growing conditions

Despite U.S. Department of Agriculture forecasts for a smaller production of all oranges and grapefruits this year, Florida citrus growers said favorable growing conditions and favorable weather are resulting in a strong, high-quality Florida citrus crop.

“We are excited about this season as we are off to a great start,” said Al Finch, president of Dundee, Fla.-based Florida Classic Growers. “The color of the fruit is exceptional, especially the Florida navels.” 

Adam Roe, regional sales manager with Winter Haven, Fla.-based Noble Worldwide, said the company began harvesting the second week of September and expects to harvest through May and ship through June or July.

Similarly, Doug Feek, president of Fort Pierce, Fla.-based DLF International, said the firm began at the end of September and will run through the first part of July using a cold storage program at the end of the season.

Finch said supply is close to what it was last season, but overall fruit quality has improved. He also said promoting smaller-sized fruit in three- or four-pound bags will be an opportunity this season.
GT Parris, commodity manager for Vero Beach, Fla.-based Seald Sweet, said he is seeing almost identical volume to last year because of the good growing conditions and weather. Overall, he said Florida should enjoy a good year. He said Texas grapefruit volume is limited because of a freeze in February.

Continued efforts to manage citrus greening is another factor leading to increased quality crop, Parris said. 

Feek said demand on the East Coast is about the same as last year, and there has been an increase in business in the Midwest.  He said while prices of oranges are similar to last year, grapefruit prices are slightly higher. His company is also expanding their orange and grapefruit businesses.

According to the USDA, overall U.S. citrus production for the fresh market is estimated at 3.45 million tons in 2020-21, down 6% from the previous season, with smaller fresh-market crops of oranges (down 11%), grapefruit (down 15%) and lemons (down 6%). The USDA’s October forecast for Florida’s production of all oranges was down 11% from last season with grapefruit production down 7% and all tangerine and tangelo production up 1%.

Cost factors

Roe said increases in raw products and farming costs, as well as increases in the costs of cardboard, pallets and freight, are all playing a role in overall price increases.

“There is only so much you can ask someone to bear in a single year, so even if you see some increase in price it is not necessarily due to crop being better or demand being higher,” Roe said. “A lot of it is due to an increase in raw costs.”

At the same time, Parris said there will eventually be a ceiling to the price of grapefruit, and time will tell what that will be. In the meantime, he said it is important to be realistic and understand what the consumer is willing to pay.

Parris said there are few orange exports, but there still is demand in Europe and Asia for grapefruit. He said the challenge with exports will be the cost, getting a container and ensuring the product ar-rives in time. He also said domestically they are working through labor and trucking issues.

Roe said a challenge for Florida citrus continues to be fighting for shelf space in competition with other domestic and imported products. At the same time, he said the biggest opportunity they are seeing this year has been with import struggles. 

“The biggest opportunity is what we saw with the import challenges and the port delays,” Roe said. “Inconsistent import supply opened up some opportunities for Florida.”

In terms of other domestic product, Roe said getting product from California to the East Coast is met with high freight costs and a shortage of drivers, so there is an increased demand for a product pro-duced regionally. 

Overall, Roe said demand for Florida citrus is high across all varieties, including grapefruit, oranges,  tangerines and pomelos. Roe said he believes specialty crops including tangerines will see an increase in Florida this year. Overall, he believes the future is bright for Florida citrus.

“The fresh Florida citrus industry is going to continue to grow,” Roe said. “After a culling period of dif-ferent packers and marketers, the people left are heavily investing in this.”

Parris agrees.

“Florida is moving in the right direction,” Parris said. “The guys who stayed in it are doing a wonderful job putting out a good piece of fruit. They stayed in it because their hearts are in it.”

In the future, Feek said the state could see more packers join together in business, and processes will continue to become more automated.