Sunkist Growers announced the cooperative’s sixth consecutive billion-dollar revenue year Feb. 17 at the company’s annual meeting in Valencia, CA. Moreover, for the first time in Sunkist’s history, the organization has issued grower payments of over a billion dollars for the second consecutive year.

“Sunkist has made many advancements to keep the cooperative well-positioned in the current business environment and last year’s results demonstrate the positive impact of those improvements,” Sunkist President and Chief Executive Officer Russell Hanlin said in a statement.

Notable changes in the past few years include the implementation of the cooperative’s grower distribution program.

“We made our third distribution to growers in 2015, and are committed to increasing these distributions annually,” Hanlin added. “This program was accomplished through an effective cost-containment plan and revenues from our for-profit businesses.”

Sunkist’s juice processing joint venture with Ventura Coastal has yielded positive results for the organization. Now in its fourth year, the business partnership continues to generate improved by-product earnings, more timely payments and greatly contributes to grower distributions. Sunkist’s robust licensing program and global sourcing business is also advancing. With 49 licensees in total, the Sunkist brand is used to market approximately 700 products in 77 countries.

“All of these businesses continue to contribute to positive revenue streams and also help strategically position Sunkist for future growth,” said Hanlin.

Another significant event for the cooperative was Sunkist’s headquarters relocation to Valencia, CA, in 2014, which strengthened Sunkist’s financial position and also geographically centralized its business operations to the cooperative’s grower base.

“The positive changes and growth we have achieved in recent years have been accomplished with the leadership and dedication of Sunkist’s board of directors, chaired for the past five years by Mark Gillette,” Hanlin said. “His commitment and leadership has been instrumental to our organization, and we are thankful for his valuable contributions to Sunkist.”

As his term as chairman of Sunkist’s board of directors comes to a close, the contributions of Mark Gillette, president of Sunkist-affiliated Gillette Citrus Inc. of Dinuba, CA, was recognized during the meeting. Gillette served as chairman for five consecutive terms, the maximum time allowed under Sunkist by-laws.

Gerald Denni, general manager of Golden Valley Citrus Inc. in Strathmore, CA, and co-owner of Mittman-Denni Citrus Management, was elected to his first term as chairman following the meeting.

Elected by the board to vice chairmanships for 2016-17 were Mark Gillette of Dinuba, CA (District 1), James Finch of Ojai, CA (District 2) and Nicholas Bozick of Mecca, CA (District 3).

The meeting welcomed this year’s incoming directors, including Norman Evans of Terra Bella, CA, Amy Fukutomi of Oxnard, CA, Jim Layes of Riverside, CA, Tony Lombardi of Terra Bella, CA, Randy Vogt of Visalia, CA, and Scott Wiley of Terra Bella, CA. Also joining the board were Steve Cutting of Manhattan Beach, CA, and Robert Grether of Somis, CA, who have previously served on the board.

Enduring members of the 2016-17 board include Craig Armstrong of Thermal, CA, Ron Arnott of Mentone, CA, Allen Camp of Ventura, CA, Donald Dames of Oxnard, CA, Burt Fugate of Santa Maria, CA, Curt Holmes of Fresno, CA, Gary Laux of Porterville, CA, Brad Leichtfuss of Fillmore, CA, Robert Linderman of Visalia, CA, Warren Lyall of Pauma Valley, CA, Samuel Mayhew of Oxnard, CA, Eric Meling of Ivanhoe, CA, Cecilia Perry of Yuma, AZ, Kevin Riddle of Orosi, CA, and Kevin Severns of Orange Cove, CA.

Sunkist also honored the service of outgoing Directors John Kalender of Woodlake, CA, Russell Katayama of Orosi, CA, John Matthiessen of Visalia, CA, Martin Mittman of Porterville, CA, Thomas Mazzetti of Riverside, CA, Richard Pidduck of Santa Paula, CA, and Randy Veeh of Visalia, CA.