Seald Sweet West takes on Mexican organic citrus deal from Citrus Industries
Seald Sweet West takes on Mexican organic citrus deal from Citrus Industries
Citrus Industries in Three Rivers, CA, has designated Seald Sweet West International Inc. in Visalia, CA, as the exclusive sales agent for its fresh- packed fruit, primarily citrus, from Mexico.
According to David Muse, vice president of operations and marketing at Seald Sweet West, the program will consist primarily of Valencia oranges, both organic and conventional.
The deal will mark Seald Sweet West's first entry into the organic citrus arena as a sales agent. "We had been, over the last year or so, purchasing organic product from various handlers around California and Arizona. But this is our first endeavor actually doing our own," said Mr. Muse.
And he does expect the company's involvement in organic fruit to grow. "I think we will be obviously looking to expand the whole [organic] orange program and lemons as well," he said.
Seald Sweet West, a wholly owed subsidiary of Seald Sweet LLC in Vero Beach, FL, markets a full line of citrus as well as grapes and some other fruit from California and Arizona.
"We have two packinghouses in California under marketing contract for oranges and lemons, and we have strategic alliances with a couple of other packers that pack for us," said Mr. Muse. Had it not been for the January freeze, the company would probably have marketed a total of about 2.7 million cartons of citrus this year. "Obviously, it is substantially less now," he said.
The freeze in California clearly opens opportunities for imported citrus from Mexico. However, "we look forward to being able to sustain that in years to come, most particularly the organic side of it," he said. "We think that will be pretty easily sustainable. It is kind of a separate niche, and it seems to be going rather well."
This year, Mr. Muse expects to market a volume of about 250,000 cartons of organic Valencias from Mexico and about the same volume of conventional Valencias. The fruit is all presently being packed in Hermosillo, Sonora, Mexico, he said.
Citrus Industries, which also does juice and fresh-cut products, has "had a long-standing relationship with Mexican growers and packers, primarily on the juice side," Mr. Muse said. "So they have represented a number of those shippers down there for several years. They just recently expanded to being their shippers' rep on the fresh side."
Seald Sweet West will also be "doing some non-citrus items" from Mexico with Citrus Industries as well, he said. That will include "some peaches later on and some grapes, and I think probably down the road there will be some lemons involved as well."
The grapes will also be organically grown, he said. "Initially, it appeared that [this year's volume] was going to be very substantial on organic grapes," but some of the acreage that was expected to be in the program has not yet been certified. "So it is probably only going to be around 40,000 lugs of grapes -- different varieties, but all organic," he said.
According to David Muse, vice president of operations and marketing at Seald Sweet West, the program will consist primarily of Valencia oranges, both organic and conventional.
The deal will mark Seald Sweet West's first entry into the organic citrus arena as a sales agent. "We had been, over the last year or so, purchasing organic product from various handlers around California and Arizona. But this is our first endeavor actually doing our own," said Mr. Muse.
And he does expect the company's involvement in organic fruit to grow. "I think we will be obviously looking to expand the whole [organic] orange program and lemons as well," he said.
Seald Sweet West, a wholly owed subsidiary of Seald Sweet LLC in Vero Beach, FL, markets a full line of citrus as well as grapes and some other fruit from California and Arizona.
"We have two packinghouses in California under marketing contract for oranges and lemons, and we have strategic alliances with a couple of other packers that pack for us," said Mr. Muse. Had it not been for the January freeze, the company would probably have marketed a total of about 2.7 million cartons of citrus this year. "Obviously, it is substantially less now," he said.
The freeze in California clearly opens opportunities for imported citrus from Mexico. However, "we look forward to being able to sustain that in years to come, most particularly the organic side of it," he said. "We think that will be pretty easily sustainable. It is kind of a separate niche, and it seems to be going rather well."
This year, Mr. Muse expects to market a volume of about 250,000 cartons of organic Valencias from Mexico and about the same volume of conventional Valencias. The fruit is all presently being packed in Hermosillo, Sonora, Mexico, he said.
Citrus Industries, which also does juice and fresh-cut products, has "had a long-standing relationship with Mexican growers and packers, primarily on the juice side," Mr. Muse said. "So they have represented a number of those shippers down there for several years. They just recently expanded to being their shippers' rep on the fresh side."
Seald Sweet West will also be "doing some non-citrus items" from Mexico with Citrus Industries as well, he said. That will include "some peaches later on and some grapes, and I think probably down the road there will be some lemons involved as well."
The grapes will also be organically grown, he said. "Initially, it appeared that [this year's volume] was going to be very substantial on organic grapes," but some of the acreage that was expected to be in the program has not yet been certified. "So it is probably only going to be around 40,000 lugs of grapes -- different varieties, but all organic," he said.
