Page 41 - January_2019
P. 41

“One of our new varieties is a Novem- ber-December variety called Early Autumn Honey, and the other is a December-Feb- ruary variety called Juicy Crunch,” says Roe. “When you get one, the  rst response is ‘wow.’  ey are low in acid and high in brix.  ey are limited volume this year, and next year we should see considerable volume. We hope to be in limited distribution nationwide.”
Noble also recently developed the Roe Tangerine, which is more of the Clemen- tine-size fruit from late November to January that looks and acts like a Clementine, but it is seedless and easy to peel.
“Florida has a range of specialty vari- eties available in various maturity windows, including Sugar Belle, Minneola/Honeybell, U.S. Early Pride tangerine, Tango Mandarin, Roe tangerine, Orri Mandarin, Autumn Honey tangerine, Juice Crunch tangerine, UF Glow and more,” says Peter Chaires, executive vice president at Florida Citrus Packers and executive director of New Varieties Develop- ment & Management Corp., Maitland, FL. “Quantities of the traditional Fallglo, Sunburst and Honey tangerines also remain available.”
 e citrus industry in the Sunshine State remains committed to developing and marketing new and improved specialty citrus.
“Florida has invested heavily in the devel- opment of new varieties over the past decade, and some of these varieties are being planted and will  nd their way into retail channels over the next couple years,” says Chaires. “One of these is the Bingo – of which new plantings are currently producing very small quantities of fruit, which will increase over the next couple years. Oranges and grapefruit with unique qualities that may have strong consumer appeal are not technically catego- rized as specialty fruit, but they certainly have something special to o er.”
Changing demographics are bringing new
“Easy-peelers are arguably the dominating commodity of the citrus category because of the growth of volumes from multi- ple regions around the world and the popularity and consumer demand in the market.”
— Kim Flores, Pro Citrus Network
citrus varieties to market, and some of them are going mainstream.
“Some up-and-comers we are handling include sweet limes, kumquats,  nger limes, cocktail grapefruit and others,” says Kim Flores, vice president of marketing and busi- ness development at Pro Citrus Network, Visalia, CA.
“Sweet limes are very unique, with lots of great characteristics and health bene ts,” says Flores. “ ey are light green in color, with a yellow tint when completely mature, and range in size from two to three inches in diameter.  ey contain much less acid than ordinary limes, have a sweet, mild  avor and are often used for juicing.  ey’re popular in the Persian, Latin and Indian communities, and are often used to boost immune systems and  ght o  colds,” says Flores.
EASY-PEELERS ARE APPEALING
Many, maybe most, of the newer specialties are variations on the easy-peeler fruit that has catapulted to the top of the citrus category.
“ ere has been such growth in the easy- peeler Mandarins,” says Mark Greenberg, president of Capespan North America in Montreal. “We get asked for pigmented citrus, Cara Caras, and the Tango W. Murcott, which are truly seedless.”
One new specialty easy-peeler cross between a Mandarin and the large Navel, in particular, has caught Greenberg’s attention.
“Suntreat is a California grower-pack- er-shipper that has some interesting things,” says Greenberg. “Sumo citrus is an interesting product that is proprietary to Suntreat and is only available in limited supply from Cali- fornia and Australia.”
 e entire specialty category may be small, but it is the high growth sector within the citrus category.
“Growth continues in specialty varieties, such as sweet, seedless, low-acidity Cara Cara Navels; savory, rich oranges; and easy-to-peel Mandarins,” says Julie DeWolf, director of retail marketing at Sunkist Growers, Sherman Oaks, CA. “ at being said, the entire specialty category is experiencing increased sales as consumers expand their palates and become more adventurous with the help of sampling, in-store signage and digital media.”
 e meteoric emergence of the easy- peelers shows just how quickly specialty citrus can rise to the top of the mainstream charts.
“Easy-peelers, such as Clementines and Mandarins, were once considered specialty items.  e citrus category was primarily domi- nated by oranges and grapefruit,” says Flores. “Now easy-peelers are arguably the dominating commodity of the citrus category because of the growth of volumes from multiple regions around the world and the popularity and consumer demand in the market.”
UP AND COMING
 e specialty citrus category is far from settled, and there are varieties worth keeping an eye on.
“Meyer lemons and Gold Nugget Manda- rins are two varieties that could be described as up-and-comers, as they are de nitely gaining popularity for their  avor attributes and distinct di erences from their more conventional counterparts,” says DeWolf. “Grower-shippers are also providing convenient, colorful, high- graphic packaging options that showcase the natural beauty of the fruit and also commu- nicate its intriguing  avor pro le, raising the awareness of the entire category.”
Although Wonderful has captured slightly more than 50 percent of the Mandarin market
PRODUCE BUSINESS / JANUARY 2019 / 41


































































































   39   40   41   42   43