The latest figures from California Citrus Mutual show that some 81m cartons of navel oranges were produced by the state in 2009/10, a sharp increase on the 64m carton crop harvested in the previous season.
The bumper navel crop was matched by a strong year for exports, which weighed in at around 18-19m cartons to account for some 23 per cent of production, according to Bob Blakely of California Citrus Mutual.
“It turned out to be one of the most successful seasons we’ve had in a long time,” he told Capital Press. “From very early in the season, we had excellent eating quality – the fruit matured early.”
In particular, high sugar levels helped to drive sales, he added. “The flavour was just exceptionally good with respect to what we’ve had for some other years,” Mr Blakely said. “Once that got out in the marketplace and consumers got a taste of it, it brought them back. Even before Christmas we started seeing repeat business.”
Another characteristic of the season was a late finish to harvesting and shipping, which ran until the end of July for some growers thanks to a cool spring.
Summarising the breakout of the crop, Mr Blakely told Capital Press that 60 per cent of fruit made it into the “fancy grade” category and 24 per cent was “choice grade”, with the balance going into by-products or juice. The portion making the grade for the fresh market was therefore above the average rate of 75-80 per cent.
This year’s hefty yield fell short of the record, which was set a few seasons ago with a 100m-carton yield, but the upcoming crop could come closer to that milestone. Official estimates for 2010/11 will not be released for a few more weeks, but industry sources are already forecasting a mammoth crop that will top the 2009/10 total.
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