Florida's citrus sector faces ongoing hurdles, including disease and weather disruptions. To address these challenges, industry stakeholders are increasingly looking to California for assistance in maintaining market stability.
According to Dr. Maria Zansler, Director of Economic and Market Research with the Florida Department of Citrus, "California has been serving a role in helping to continue to provide this premium quality fresh, not from concentrate juice for some of our premium brands that we find in Florida and helping to keep that market access open."
Dr. Zansler highlights the potential for California growers to enhance their revenue streams by supplying fruit for juice production. "The leading sources of orange juice that Florida processors are receiving in the middle of Florida's challenging supply issues are from Brazil and Mexico by and large, but there are these niche markets in California that can help supply that, and certainly as we're working to shore up our production once again following terrible hurricane events, that is helping to keep that market supply going."
Currently, Valencia oranges dominate the market, though there is a slight decrease in availability. Navel oranges are also utilized in the production of "not from concentrate" juice.
Source: RFD TV