Jac Vandenberg sees slightly bigger summer citrus supply

Summer citrus volume for Yonkers, N.Y.-based Jac Vandenberg should see slightly increased volume, says John Paap, brand manager for the company.

With expected volume of close to 1.7 million cartons, the importer sources citrus from Argentina, Australia, Chile, Peru, South Africa and Uruguay, Paap said. About 1% of Jac Vandenberg’s volume is organic, and Paap said the company intends to expand its organic citrus offering in coming years.

“We offer a full lineup of citrus products, which includes lemons, oranges, mandarins, grapefruit and tangelos,” he said. “We’re particularly excited about the continued growth of our Sunrays brand in mandarins and will be offering retailers various marketing tools to promote the brand in stores and online. We are already planning several display contests with retailers across the country around the Sunrays mandarins program.”
The citrus market remains active a year after the COVID-19 pandemic stirred demand, Paap said.

“Demand is still quite strong but probably not as strong as last summer,” he said. “We are also seeing a slight increase in mandarin volumes, mostly in murcotts during the late August through October period.”

Paap said there still is a lot of demand for bagged citrus, and, increasingly, more sustainable options.

Retailers should explore promoting brands and varieties of citrus on their digital platforms, he said.

“Given the increase in ecommerce and online shopping, retailers should explore using their websites and media platforms to promote specific varieties/brands of citrus — particularly around promotional periods,” he said.

Jac Vandenberg has invested more in its media platforms, he said. “We feel we can do more by partnering with retailers to create a cohesive marketing campaign that engages customers and gets them excited about the product/brand,” Paap said.
Retailers can promote on digital platform in many ways, he said.

“It doesn’t just have to be a picture of the product; it can be a recipe image or a video of the story about how the product is grown. I think there’s a lot of potential for storytelling online.”
Cross merchandising, at the store level and online, is a great way to promote, he said. 

“With summer comes a lot of barbecue and so you have a great opportunity to cross-merchandise barbecue foods with citrus,” Paap said.

Sustainability

Jac Vandenberg’s BIO bags represent a big sustainability commitment, he said. 

“They are one of a kind in the U.S. market, with 100% beechwood from the Programme for the Endorsement of Forest Certification-certified forests,” Paap said.  

“The wood is a natural by-product of forest thinning; a process which improves health of the remaining trees. The netting is produced with a zero-carbon footprint and is certified home compostable and biodegradable within 12 weeks.”