Sunkist Growers offers an ample supply of its year-round conventional and organic citrus in the winter months, but there is more.
“While we have a robust year-long portfolio of conventional and organic citrus offerings, consumers can expect to find our specialty citrus offerings at the forefront during the winter months,” said Cassie Howard, senior director of category management and marketing at Sunkist Growers Inc. “These include The Pink Orange, our seedless sweetness and pink cara cara orange variety, dramatically delicious blood oranges, and folate-frontrunner minneola tangelos.”
Of course, navel oranges, lemons, California mandarins, grapefruit and organic options are available during the winter months, Howard said.
“Winter months are what we at Sunkist like to call citrus season; it’s when most of our beloved citrus offerings are at their peak and available in stores for consumers,” Howard said.
Late and great
The 2023-24 California/Arizona citrus season experienced a late start, Howard said.
“This season also brings with it some new challenges, as the fruit this year is some of the largest sizes we have seen in recent memory, creating bountiful opportunities for retailers to offer great value to their consumers on big fruit while also lending some challenges to customers favoring snackable, and smaller-sized fruit options for convenience,” she said.
Even so, Howard said Sunkist experienced great results with its holiday carton program through the holidays, and retail and consumer demand remain strong.
“The late start to our season has also provided some unique wins, including a strong start to the California desert grapefruit category and increased volume in lemons for the holidays,” Howard said.
Season-to-date citrus is trending ahead of last year, outpacing total produce and total fruit, she said.
“As we’ve entered the New Year, our specialty citrus varieties are already hitting the shelves, and we’ve seen the building up of consumer demand,” Howard said.
Looking ahead
Howard said Sunkist, the longest-standing fresh citrus cooperative in the nation, will continue to be active in promoting fresh citrus from its growers in Arizona and California.
“As citrus demand from consumers grows, we also want to remain a go-to supplier for our customers,” Howard said. “Our specialty citrus varieties have distinct health benefits setting them apart, especially for minneola tangelos, or what we call a folate front-runner due to its unique nutritional benefits in that field. Caras, while known for being a vitamin C powerhouse, is the flavor that consumers are after, with over 50% of shoppers claiming flavor as the key purchase decision factor, and over 40% of cara shoppers specifically planned to purchase before visiting the store.”
Sunkist provides retailers with eye-catching displays and packaging to attract consumer attention in food stores, she said.
Sunkist also has revamped its cara program, as well as its merchandising offerings with interchangeable bin-headers and header cards to support key shopper milestones including Lunar New Year, Superbowl, Lent and the second annual My Sunkist Citrus Day on March 1, Howard said.
Howard said those wanting a closer look at how the cooperative celebrates its annual Orange Day festivities can follow @SunkistCitrus on TikTok and Instagram.
