Lone Star Citrus is having a bounce-back year.
“We are still recovering from the Valentine’s Day freeze in 2021, so we are happy to be back up to about 65% production of a normal crop year, said April Flowers, marketing director of Lone Star Citrus Growers, Mission, Texas. “We are in our peak season right now.”
A marketer of conventional citrus fruit, Lone Star Citrus is currently running its Sweeter in Texas promotion, which provides an opportunity to win a $500 prize and is aimed at educating consumers on the marketer’s sweet grapefruit while collecting consumer demographics, Flowers said.
Retailers can maximize sales by focusing on the health benefits of Texas grapefruit, she said.
“January always sees a health-focused audience, and with 100% vitamin C and a low glycemic index in Texas grapefruit, those health benefits should be promoted heavily,” Flowers said. “February is National Grapefruit month, creating several display and festival opportunities.”
Flowers said Lone Star Citrus recently joined a partnership with Texas milk producer Volleman’s Family Farms, which has released orange juice exclusively produced from Lone Star Citrus farms.
“This is an exciting release because it is the first bottled juice that is 100% Texas grown,” Flowers said. “Our oranges are super sweet, so the juice has a brix-acid ratio of around 27, whereas most other juices available on the market register around 16-19.”
Lone Star Citrus also has opened an online store so that consumers who cannot find its brand in-store can order directly from the farm.
In addition, Lone Star Citrus offers private-label/store-branded bags.
Shipper-branded bags were once encouraged, so Lone Star Citrus invested a significant amount into developing a house brand that is devoted to increasing consumer engagement, Flowers said.
“However, there has been a recent retail trend to only offer retail-branded bags,” she said. “I hope this changes, because the end consumer has shown a consistent desire to know where their produce originates, and shipper-branded bags provide that information in a relevant and engaging way.”
