Steve Johnson, owner and general manager of Johnson Harvesting, was elected chairman of the Florida Citrus Commission (FCC) this week. He succeeds Ned Hancock in the chairman position. The FCC oversees the Florida Department of Citrus.
Johnson is a fourth-generation citrus grower and cattle rancher based in Wauchula. In addition to managing the operations of the citrus harvesting and brokerage company, he oversees his family’s citrus groves and commercial cow-calf operations.
Johnson serves on the boards of the Florida Farm Bureau Federation, Hardee County Soil and Water Conservation and Hardee County Farm Bureau Federation. He previously served on the boards of Florida Citrus Mutual, Hardee County Chamber of Commerce and American Farm Bureau Federation Labor Committee.
He holds a bachelor’s degree in agricultural operations management from the University of Florida.
“It is a great honor and privilege to serve this industry at a time when there is so much at stake,” says Johnson. “This past year has been difficult on many levels. But it also brought about great opportunity. Unprecedented shifts in the way the world lives, works and consumes greatly impacted our industry. These changes — from a return to eating breakfast at home to a renewed focus on health and wellness — have led to an increase in sales of 100 percent orange juice (OJ) unlike ever before. As a grower, I am thankful and humbled by this show of support. The past few years have been a struggle for our industry as we’ve faced ongoing pests and disease and natural disasters. This renewal of consumer interest in Florida OJ is fueling a momentum we have long sought.”
That momentum can be seen in the latest Nielsen Retail sales report. “Today, we continue to see total OJ sales with average year-over-year sales increased 13 percent with 37.23 million equivalent gallons sold in the four-week period ending Jan. 23,” says Johnson. “Sales of not from concentrate OJ are up by 16.7 percent, and sales of reconstituted OJ are up by nearly 6.7 percent.”
Source: Florida Department of Citrus
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