Demand for global citrus spikes
Demand for global citrus spikes
International citrus suppliers have managed to gain a strong foothold in the U.S. market, and the devastating freeze that hit the California citrus industry the second week of January immediately created a demand for global citrus sources.
Bill Weyland, director of imports for Seald Sweet International LLC in Vero Beach, FL, said Jan. 17, "Obviously, marketers here are looking toward the overseas markets for potential supply," he said, adding that citrus marketers are now looking to Spain, Morocco or both for sourcing.
Citrus importer Dennis Cohen, who owns SA Direct LLC in Visalia, CA, noted that the California citrus freeze not only creates a market vacuum in the United States, but the California shippers with export commitments are scrambling to fulfill their business in Asia and other parts of the world.
"My phone is ringing off the hook with people wanting to ship to the Orient or Japan," said Mr. Cohen.
Mr. Weyland noted that just because a company may be an importer of clementines does not guarantee instant access to all citrus varieties in Spain and Morocco.
"Not every packer in Spain or Morocco works with all varieties of citrus," said Mr. Weyland, though "some packers are much more integrated across various citrus products. So, it is hard at this moment to put any kind of estimate on volume or even who will be marketing the fruit. It's still too early to tell."
Mr. Weyland did indicate that Seald Sweet would be receiving recently arranged loads of citrus from Morocco and Spain within "21 to 25 days" of the Jan. 17 interview.
Mr. Weyland said that Spain and Morocco are both already cleared by the U.S. Department of Agriculture phytosanitary regulators to ship Navels and other oranges to the United States after the application of a cold-treatment protocol.
Mr. Cohen said that he has finished his Spanish clementine season for this year, but he said that there exist other opportunities from other countries, including Mexico. He stressed that the U.S. industry will exhibit "prudence" in making alternate arrangements, "to see what is going on and how to do a good job to fill needs rather than just load and send to the U.S. and all those chains and hope to realize profits for doing the job. We need to be careful and patient. If there is a shortage of product, there will be a shortage for a longer period of time than people think."
Mr. Cohen said, "To rush to buy citrus from any Tom, Dick or Harry who doesn't understand how to pack and move product to the U.S. can be very damaging for those importers. They will lose money. And there is no guarantee the chains will go buy from anywhere to fill the hole."
As to Seald Sweet's specific plans, Mr. Weyland said, "We are fortunate in that many of our shippers in Spain do have Navels. We are preparing to import Navels and some other citrus, including lemons, from both Spain and Morocco."
A consideration, however, is that the citrus growers from that part of the country pack Navels and other citrus products primarily for the European market.
"The packers in Spain in particular do not normally work with a style of package -the telescopic carton - that most retailers here are familiar with," said Mr. Weyland. "They pack in open-top Euro boxes or in wooden boxes. So, the marketer has to decide: 'Do I market in that product or do I change to a different type of packaging or have them change their packaging system to ours so we can easily meet the demands in the marketplace? We are doing both, actually."
He said that Seald Sweet already repacks some Spanish and Moroccan products here into bags or places product into its own label. He said that the company would also work with shippers to use packages with PLU stickers to support typical retail distribution in the United States.
Mr. Weyland noted that Seald Sweet is a grower-marketer of citrus from California, Texas and Florida. He said that "it is a little premature to go make blanket statements" for the damage to the entire California citrus industry. He said that some pockets in California survived freezing temperatures that devastated other groves. Still, he said there was no doubt that Seald Sweet needed to supplement its supplies from Spain and Morocco. He noted that the firm is also arranging promotions of its Florida grapefruit and oranges, and Texas oranges and red grapefruit.
Mr. Weyland also said that the citrus season in Spain and Morocco is similar to the production dates in California, so those eastern Atlantic growing areas will see a decline in production this May and June. If trees in California are severely damaged, those countries will be needed as citrus sources when California would have come into production this fall.
This will give Southern Hemisphere clementine producers a strong entr?e to the U.S. market, he noted.
"Because of the current events in California, we should see a very strong start to the Southern Hemisphere citrus program because you will see a gap in the market between the conclusion of imports from Spain and Morocco and the start up of citrus from Chile or South Africa."
Mr. Weyland said that Chilean Navels are not approved yet by USDA for importation to the United States.
"At this point in time, I don't believe that will happen for the coming season," he said. "It may be another year."
Bill Weyland, director of imports for Seald Sweet International LLC in Vero Beach, FL, said Jan. 17, "Obviously, marketers here are looking toward the overseas markets for potential supply," he said, adding that citrus marketers are now looking to Spain, Morocco or both for sourcing.
Citrus importer Dennis Cohen, who owns SA Direct LLC in Visalia, CA, noted that the California citrus freeze not only creates a market vacuum in the United States, but the California shippers with export commitments are scrambling to fulfill their business in Asia and other parts of the world.
"My phone is ringing off the hook with people wanting to ship to the Orient or Japan," said Mr. Cohen.
Mr. Weyland noted that just because a company may be an importer of clementines does not guarantee instant access to all citrus varieties in Spain and Morocco.
"Not every packer in Spain or Morocco works with all varieties of citrus," said Mr. Weyland, though "some packers are much more integrated across various citrus products. So, it is hard at this moment to put any kind of estimate on volume or even who will be marketing the fruit. It's still too early to tell."
Mr. Weyland did indicate that Seald Sweet would be receiving recently arranged loads of citrus from Morocco and Spain within "21 to 25 days" of the Jan. 17 interview.
Mr. Weyland said that Spain and Morocco are both already cleared by the U.S. Department of Agriculture phytosanitary regulators to ship Navels and other oranges to the United States after the application of a cold-treatment protocol.
Mr. Cohen said that he has finished his Spanish clementine season for this year, but he said that there exist other opportunities from other countries, including Mexico. He stressed that the U.S. industry will exhibit "prudence" in making alternate arrangements, "to see what is going on and how to do a good job to fill needs rather than just load and send to the U.S. and all those chains and hope to realize profits for doing the job. We need to be careful and patient. If there is a shortage of product, there will be a shortage for a longer period of time than people think."
Mr. Cohen said, "To rush to buy citrus from any Tom, Dick or Harry who doesn't understand how to pack and move product to the U.S. can be very damaging for those importers. They will lose money. And there is no guarantee the chains will go buy from anywhere to fill the hole."
As to Seald Sweet's specific plans, Mr. Weyland said, "We are fortunate in that many of our shippers in Spain do have Navels. We are preparing to import Navels and some other citrus, including lemons, from both Spain and Morocco."
A consideration, however, is that the citrus growers from that part of the country pack Navels and other citrus products primarily for the European market.
"The packers in Spain in particular do not normally work with a style of package -the telescopic carton - that most retailers here are familiar with," said Mr. Weyland. "They pack in open-top Euro boxes or in wooden boxes. So, the marketer has to decide: 'Do I market in that product or do I change to a different type of packaging or have them change their packaging system to ours so we can easily meet the demands in the marketplace? We are doing both, actually."
He said that Seald Sweet already repacks some Spanish and Moroccan products here into bags or places product into its own label. He said that the company would also work with shippers to use packages with PLU stickers to support typical retail distribution in the United States.
Mr. Weyland noted that Seald Sweet is a grower-marketer of citrus from California, Texas and Florida. He said that "it is a little premature to go make blanket statements" for the damage to the entire California citrus industry. He said that some pockets in California survived freezing temperatures that devastated other groves. Still, he said there was no doubt that Seald Sweet needed to supplement its supplies from Spain and Morocco. He noted that the firm is also arranging promotions of its Florida grapefruit and oranges, and Texas oranges and red grapefruit.
Mr. Weyland also said that the citrus season in Spain and Morocco is similar to the production dates in California, so those eastern Atlantic growing areas will see a decline in production this May and June. If trees in California are severely damaged, those countries will be needed as citrus sources when California would have come into production this fall.
This will give Southern Hemisphere clementine producers a strong entr?e to the U.S. market, he noted.
"Because of the current events in California, we should see a very strong start to the Southern Hemisphere citrus program because you will see a gap in the market between the conclusion of imports from Spain and Morocco and the start up of citrus from Chile or South Africa."
Mr. Weyland said that Chilean Navels are not approved yet by USDA for importation to the United States.
"At this point in time, I don't believe that will happen for the coming season," he said. "It may be another year."
