LAKELAND, Fla. -- Retailers will be forced to continue their creative sourcing and marketing their favorite commodity crops this winter as citrus-crop projections are down for the California and Florida growing regions. Weather is again to blame for the crop's shortfalls, industry executives told SN.
During a press conference held by the Florida Department of Citrus, here, following the U.S. Department of Agriculture's crop estimate release, Deputy Executive Director Michael Sparks said that the citrus estimate is down 22%, equal to the California losses, as a result of heavy rain followed by a long dry spell.
This year's estimate is 190 million boxes. Last year's crop was posted at 244 million boxes.
This drop in crop size follows five seasons of bumper crops in Florida, according to Sparks. Still, this year, "we're expecting better quality, and a market at fair return," he said.
"For the growers, this is good news. They'll be able to harvest and sell their entire crop," Sparks said. When asked about consumer pricing, he said that when supplies are in flux, consumer prices are generally adjusted. "However, regarding prices for consumers, that's done in the commodity market. We don't speculate."
The crop of specialty items, including tangerines and Temple oranges, is expected to dip 15% to 8.7 million boxes.
"Despite the decrease, Florida will be able to supply product," Sparks said.
And the news from California isn't too good either. Again, weather is to blame for a 20% decline in crop size, according to Joel Nelsen, director, California Citrus Mutual, Exeter, Calif.
This season's smaller crop also will yield smaller sizes. There will be a premium on larger sizes, Nelsen predicted. Rain is needed within the next few weeks. Harvesting has been delayed this season, with picking expected to commence at the end of the month. Last year, harvesting was begun by the end of September.
"El Nino is to blame," said Nelsen. "We had a very wet spring. It was hard for the crops to set. There wasn't the right conditions in place for a good size crop."
The only bright news may come from Florida grapefruit, which is expected to remain stable at 50 million boxes. Credit for the stability is tied to the fact that most of the crop is grown on the east coast of Florida, where the weather didn't affect the crop as adversely as in other parts of the state, according to officials.
FDOC's Sparks also indicated that the Brazilian crop is expected to come in lower than last year. This international component may set up a shortage in juice oranges in particular, especially since demand is up, he said.
Consumption of orange juice has risen 2.3%, according to A.C. Nielsen reports, with not-from-concentrate growth being the greatest -- up more than 16% from last year. Grapefruit juice also has posted substantial increases with double-digit growth, Sparks said.
Despite the projected shortages, Florida Citrus officials announced that the agency will continue to promote the health benefits of the state's citrus juices through a "comprehensive health and wellness initiative," which includes national advertising, public relations and retail promotions.
To continue building awareness, the FDOC recently launched a $20 million advertising campaign featuring a "talking" sandwich inside a refrigerator, which promotes the importance of drinking Florida orange juice to help fight heart disease, cancer, colds and flu.
