Sending Lemonade To Florida
Sunkist Growers board chair and Dinuba farmer Mark Gillette says the board voted some months ago to move their corporate headquarters to Valencia from Sherman Oaks after their building was sold. Visalia had hoped to be in the running for the move.Gillette says lack of a large airport and the fact that they did not want uproot staff and their families from the the LA Basin were key factors.
Gillette says Sunkist is enjoying another good year buoyed by increasing orange exports.Korea has been a big customer for the industry says Gillette as per capita consumption of citrus is way up there. ”We are happy young people are more attracted to the newer varieties and that is good news for all of citrus.”
Gillette says the joint venture with Ventura Coastal operating the Tipton juice plant has worked well with the big modern plant installing new tanks for lemon juice from California that is then shipped to Coke in Florida to make the popular Simply Lemon refrigerated not-from- concentrate juice.
Gillette says Sunkist growers are pleased that they now get a dividend adding up to $8.5 million this past year and an estimated 5% more this and each year following.
When the Wall Street Journal wants to do a story about oranges they come to – where else – Orange Cove. An article this week quoted shipments of California oranges up 8.4% this year under the new industry protocol to ship sweeter tasting oranges.
Thirty years ago the average American ate 15 lbs of oranges a year but in 2012 that was down to 10.7 bs.
That is why Gillette and others believe they need to spark the interest of those the young eaters..starting with their moms.
Announcing the new name for Paramount Citrus mandarins under the Halos brand President of the company David Krause emphasizes “Over the past few years, moms have really fallen in love with this fruit. This is a perfect snack for parents and their little angels.”