The most recent Nielsen report reveals promising news for Florida retail orange juice (OJ) sales.
During a recent Florida Department of Citrus (FDOC) webinar, Marisa Zansler, director of the FDOC Economic and Market Research Department, presented a summary of the second Nielson report for the 2020–21 citrus season through the four-week period ending Nov. 28.
The report shows that OJ sales for this period are up 10 percent compared to the same period a year ago, with almost 35 million gallons of OJ sold.
Despite a 2.2 percent increase in price of not-from-concentrate (NFC) OJ from last period, sales are still on the rise.
“NFC OJ sales are up 13.4 percent for the period. That’s about a 2.5 million gain in sales and that would be equivalent to about 433,000 grower boxes,” Zansler says.
Additionally, sales of reconstituted frozen concentrate OJ are up by 3.3 percent, and sales of grapefruit juice are up nearly 7 percent.
Since mid-March, Nielsen volume sales are up nearly 60.6 million additional equivalent gallons, roughly equivalent to 10 million grower boxes. Volume gains were highest among the larger container sizes, due, in part, to retailers stocking those larger containers.
According to Zansler, Florida OJ sales continue to trend at 2016 levels.
Zansler also shares that the majority of Florida’s orange crop is destined for retail industries.
“We’re continuing to monitor and look at where Florida-sourced oranges are being used when they’re processed into OJ,” Zansler says. “To date, using two different data sources and looking at our Florida processor data as well as Nielsen data and tracking it back to inventories reported at USDA, we’re able to reasonably estimate that the share of OJ that is retail consumption ranges from 60 to 64 percent.”
Looking to the future and long-term production of Florida citrus, Zansler says replanting efforts, reduced production costs and improved yields will be crucial to meet market demand.
This article was written by Ashley Robinson, AgNet Media communications intern in Gainesville, Florida.