Alabama Citrus Grower Sees Success With Local Marketing

An Alabama citrus grower credits the surging population in Baldwin County for his success at marketing his satsuma crop.

In retirement, Craig Goolsby has established a small but effective citrus operation. He has approximately 360 mature trees and planted another 150 last year.  Goolsby is hoping to continue a strategy that’s focused largely on local marketing.

Goolsby says he’s blessed because the population is absolutely exploding in Baldwin County, and a lot of his sales are now local. He recalls a fellow citrus grower visiting his grove and noting that within 50 miles of the farm there are 600,000 people. That observation led Goolsby to capitalize on the population in close proximity to his operation and emphasize local sales as much as possible.

His citrus crop consists entirely of Owari satsuma mandarins.

“In my own personal opinion, the Owari is the best variety of mandarin and the best variety of satsuma,” Goolsby says. “The Shiranui intrigues me because that’s another fine piece of fruit. But to me, relative to the satsuma, the Owari is tried and true. It’s a great product. If you can get somebody to taste the satsuma, they’re going to like it.”

The sweet-tasting mandarin has provided Goolsby with a product that’s been easy to market and sell. He’s hoping that success will continue with the next harvest.

“Some of the best advice I’ve ever got was from a fellow in Mobile County,” says Goolsby. He said, ‘You’ve got to understand that if you plant satsumas, you plant Owari, and you’re going to get 20% more every year.’”

With the large crop that Owari produces, he says he is always looking for ways to move more fruit.

“But again, sitting in Baldwin County, which is growing by leaps and bounds, I think we’ll be able to get rid of our fruit on a local basis — a lot of it, anyhow,” says Goolsby.

According to the U.S. Census, Baldwin County’s population increased from 246,531 in 2022 to 253,507 in 2023, a 2.8% gain. This was the second highest percentage increase of any Alabama county.

Sponsored Content