Favorable growing conditions should result in a larger California navel orange crop this year than last.
The California Department of Food and Agriculture estimates the 2025-26 crop will reach 80 million 40-pound cartons, up from 75.8 million cartons last year. Growers, however, think factors like rainfall and pests could prevent production from reaching the 80 million mark, says Casey Creamer, president of Exeter-based California Citrus Mutual.
The valencia orange crop was winding down in late October, and some navels and mandarins were already being harvested as well as lemons in the San Joaquin Valley and the desert regions, Creamer says.
Sunkist Growers
Valencia, Calif.-based Sunkist Growers Inc. kicked off its season with lemons and pummelos, says Cassie Howard, senior director of category management and marketing. Promotional volume of navel oranges was expected by mid-November.
“This year’s navel crop is showing larger sizing and excellent quality, setting up strong promotional opportunities heading into the holidays,” Howard says.
Sunkist Cali mandarins will begin harvest in mid-November, with promotional volumes available in early December. Cara cara navels and blood oranges will join the lineup in December.
Sunkist is expanding its retail-ready packaging offerings, especially for premium specialty varieties like cara cara navels, Howard says.
“Our 2- and 3-pound bag formats continue to show strong growth and remain a key driver for both value and convenience in the produce department,” she says.
And Sunkist is building on strong brand momentum with refreshed in-store merchandising and consumer-facing creative that is part of its Sunny Days campaign, Howard says.
“These updated assets help drive citrus trial and conversion by combining bold visuals with variety-specific messaging,”
she says.
The co-op also is introducing an 8-pound, limited-edition, pink-ribbon bag under its Power with the Pink Orange program as part of its partnership with the National Breast Cancer Foundation.
Sunkist announced earlier this year that Santa Paula, Calif.-based Limoneira Co., one of Sunkist’s founding members, would rejoin the organization Nov. 1.
“Limoneira’s addition to the Sunkist program enhances our ability to deliver consistent, high-quality citrus across North America,” Howard says.
Cecelia Packing
Orange Cove, Calif.-based Cecelia Packing Corp. is working on a new grapefruit label, says salesman Dominic DeNatale. It should be available early next year, when the star ruby grapefruit deal kicks off.
“We have some young trees that we planted a few years ago that are just getting into production,” he says.
The company’s grapefruit program was well received after its launch last year, and it plans to ramp up production over the next few seasons, DeNatale says. The firm also offers minneola tangelos and navel, valencia, cara cara and blood oranges.
Packing for navel oranges was scheduled to get underway Nov. 3.
“We’re looking at a really nice crop with very little disease pressure and a nice mix of sizing,” DeNatale says.
The company is particularly proud of its Sky Valley navel heirloom program with trees from the 1930s, he says.
“The old rootstock produces a great eating piece of fruit that some of our customers really love,” DeNatale says. “It’s low acid, high Brix, really sweet and has a great-tasting profile.”
They’re available from around Christmastime until early April.
DeNatale expects a stronger navel orange market this year than last.
“The market took a crash last year because of all the small fruit,” he says. “I don’t foresee that being an issue for this season.”
The company is moving away from its golden nugget mandarin program because of a saturated market, he adds.
Bee Sweet Citrus
Bee Sweet Citrus Inc., Fowler, Calif., will offer a complete lineup of citrus varieties this season, says Randy Stucky, director of harvesting and grower relations.
“We’ve already started with lemons, grapefruit, Golden Gem grapefruit, pummelos and navel oranges,” he said in late October. “In November, we will begin harvesting satsuma mandarins, clementine mandarins, cara cara oranges and Royal Red oranges.”
Bee Sweet will ship minneola tangelos as well as tango and murcott mandarins after the first of the year.
A mild summer made for excellent growing conditions during August and September, Stucky says. The few rainstorms that occurred will help fruit size up.
Fruit size is up compared to last year, and quality will be good, he says.
Bee Sweet’s lemon volume is expected to be similar to last season, while overall volume of mandarins will decrease slightly.
“Despite fewer pieces per tree in navel oranges, size structure is larger, so we anticipate an increase in total volume,” he says.
Wonderful Citrus
The California citrus season and Texas red grapefruit season begin in the fall for Delano, Calif.-based Wonderful Citrus, says Zak Laffite, president.
California mandarin season for Wonderful Halos runs November through May, before the summer import program begins to achieve year-round availability, he says.
The company began its sixth season for Wonderful Seedless Lemons in July and will have year-round distribution nationwide with some of the biggest retailers in America, Laffite says, including Whole Foods, Walmart, Trader Joe’s and Kroger.
“Additionally, we offer a full portfolio of citrus, including navels, lemons, cara caras, minneolas, blood oranges and Texas oranges, grapefruit and limes,” he says.
