IMG

IMG Citrus Completes Packinghouse Consolidation

Daniel CooperIndustry News Release, Packing

Citrus grower, importer and packer IMG Citrus, headquartered in Vero Beach, announced that its new flagship facility, Sweet Sixty, is fully operational. In 2022, IMG acquired the newly built 185,000-square-foot cold storage and packing facility formerly owned by J&J Fresh Produce. Sweet Sixty was always intended to be more than just additional square footage. It was part of a long-term …

IMG

IMG Citrus Moving Forward With More CUPS

Daniel CooperCUPS

A Nov. 22 Lake County farm tour, hosted by University of Florida Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences Extension, included a visit to the 13-acre citrus under protective screen (CUPS) site owned by IMG Citrus. Located in Groveland, the facility consists of Ruby Red grapefruit on Swingle rootstock planted in May 2022. Clint Updike, IMG citrus production manager, told farm …

cups

IMG Citrus Acquires Facility and Farmland

Josh McGillIndustry News Release

IMG Citrus, based in Vero Beach, Florida, has acquired J&J Fresh Produce assets. These assets, also located in Vero Beach, include a new 185,000-square-foot cold storage and packaging facility and 1,000 acres of farmland in the Delta Farms Water Control District. “This is an exciting acquisition and a key component of our growth strategy,” said Melanie Ressler, co-chief executive officer …

IMG Citrus Launches YELLOS Grapefruit

Ernie NeffGrapefruit

IMG Citrus announced the launch of the YELLOS Florida grapefruit brand and specialty product. “Although considered a new product on the U.S. market, the YELLOS grapefruit variety is in fact Florida’s original, heirloom grapefruit and the white-fleshed counterpart of the well-known Florida Ruby Red grapefruit,” the company stated. According to a press release, YELLOS are harvested from mature groves more …

IMG Citrus Buys 2,500-Acre Grove

Ernie NeffIndustry News Release

IMG Citrus, a citrus grower, packer and shipper in Vero Beach, Florida, recently bought a 2,500-acre grove in Charlotte County. The grove increases the company’s control of citrus land management in Florida by 27%; it now has 11,387 acres. The property was acquired from the Packers of Indian River. The grove was originally planted in the 1990s and known as …

IMG Citrus Celebrates 40 Years in Business

Daniel CooperIndustry News Release

IMG Citrus, a family-owned, vertically integrated citrus grower, packer and shipper in Vero Beach, Florida, is celebrating 40 years in business. The business began in 1979 when Michel Sallin, IMG Citrus president, traveled to Florida seeking investment opportunities in agriculture. Sallin and his wife Veronique’s first investment, 72 acres of Hamlin orange groves in Manatee County, would become the beginning …

Sales Leadership Changes at IMG Citrus

Daniel CooperIndustry News Release

IMG Citrus, a family-owned, vertically-integrated citrus grower, packer, importer and shipper in Vero Beach, Florida, announced the upcoming retirement of Vice President, Veronique Sallin, after 40 years with the company. Sallin’s retirement will officially begin at the end of the 2019-2020 Florida citrus season. The company further announces the promotion of Sydney Allison to the role of director of sales. …

img

IMG Citrus Invests in Packinghouse

Daniel CooperIndustry News Release, Technology

IMG Citrus, a family-owned, vertically integrated citrus grower, packer and shipper in Vero Beach, Florida, has invested $1.5 million into its packinghouse processing line. The company added a state-of-the-art electronic fruit grader, the Global Scan 7, manufactured in France. The new sorter has the ability to precisely capture 120 images per fruit and up to 120 fruit per second in …

haffield

Haffield Reprises Role at IMG Citrus

Daniel CooperIndustry News Release

IMG Citrus, a family-owned, vertically-integrated citrus grower, packer and shipper in Vero Beach, Florida, renamed Todd Haffield as director of packinghouse operations. He previously held this role with the company from 2010 to 2017. Haffield has been with IMG Citrus since 1999 in various logistics and sales roles in addition to his director position. He contributed to many operational improvements, …

IMG Citrus Adds 4,000-Acre Grove to Portfolio

Daniel CooperCitrus, Industry News Release

The future of Florida citrus is bright. IMG Citrus, a family-owned, vertically-integrated citrus grower, packer and shipper in Vero Beach, Florida, announced the acquisition of one of the largest grapefruit groves in St. Lucie County. The 4,000-acre grove increases IMG’s control of citrus land management in Florida by over 75 percent, securing the company’s position as an established citrus leader …

Florida Citrus Show

Join the Fun at the Florida Citrus Show

Daniel CooperEvents, Florida Citrus Show

The 2026 Florida Citrus Show provides great educational opportunities for both citrus and small fruit and vegetable growers. The event is also an excellent opportunity to network with peers and learn about the latest goods and services available from the industry. The trade show portion of the event will be presented again this year in a tailgate format, which has …

Florida Citrus Commission Hears Juice Trends and Appoints Leadership

Tacy CalliesFlorida Citrus Commission, Florida Department of Citrus, Orange Juice

The Florida Citrus Commission (FCC) on Jan. 21 received updates on citrus industry economic issues and appointed a chair and vice-chair. The FCC, whose members are appointed by Florida’s governor, is the governing board for the Florida Department of Citrus (FDOC).   ORANGE JUICE (OJ)OJ retail sales trends for the four-week period through Dec. 27, 2025 show the price per …

fresh

CITRUS NURSERY SOURCE: Increased Interest in Fresh Utilization

Daniel CooperCitrus Nursery Source, Fresh

By Peter Chaires Florida breeding programs have been largely focused on the juice stream in recent years. And for good reasons. Retaining the remaining processing capacity and infrastructure is of paramount importance to support Florida’s orange juice industry. Numerous sweet oranges have been released in hopes of achieving incremental improvements in HLB tolerance while improving juice quality. Likewise, there has …

Mexfly

More Citrus Acreage Affected by Mexfly Quarantine Expansion

Daniel CooperPests, Regulation, Texas

Agriculture officials on Dec. 30 expanded the Peñitas Mexican fruit fly (Mexfly) quarantine in Hidalgo County, Texas. The U.S. Department of Agriculture Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) and the Texas Department of Agriculture (TDA) took the action. APHIS and TDA expanded the Peñitas quarantine following the Dec. 22 confirmed detection of one Mexfly larva in a tangerine collected …

Japanese citrus

Japanese Citrus Production and Trade Forecast

Daniel CooperCrop Forecast, International

The U.S. Department of Agriculture Foreign Agricultural Service (USDA FAS) has issued a forecast for all Japanese citrus varieties for 2025–26. ORANGES Fresh orange production in Japan remains small and continues a gradual long-term decline as growers reduce investment in minor citrus varieties and prioritize more profitable crops such as mandarins. Orange production is estimated to decrease 4.7% from 4,090 …

podcast

All In For Citrus Podcast, January 2026

Daniel CooperAll In For Citrus Podcast, HLB Management

In the latest All In For Citrus podcast, Michael Rogers, director of the University of Florida Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences (UF/IFAS) Citrus Research and Education Center, discussed a statewide citrus workshop hosted at the Southwest Florida Research and Education Center in January. The event provided a day full of educational presentations covering a wide range of topics. Rogers …

award

Citrus Greening-Related Research Wins Award

Daniel CooperAwards, Brazil

Fundecitrus doctoral student Lisseth Bibiana Puentes Figueroa received the Best Paper award in the Agricultural Microbiology category at the XV Brazilian Symposium on Applied Microbiology/VII Latin American Meeting on Applied Microbiology. Figueroa is affiliated with the Graduate Program in Agricultural Microbiology at the Luiz de Queiroz College of Agriculture/University of São Paulo (ESALQ/USP) and is supervised by Fundecitrus researcher Franklin …

workshop

Oxytetracycline Performance Addressed at Citrus Workshop

Daniel CooperEvents, HLB Management

The University of Florida Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences (UF/IFAS) hosted a statewide citrus grower workshop in mid-January at the Southwest Florida Research and Education Center in Immokalee. The event offered a full day of education covering a wide range of topics, including management of pests, diseases, weeds and nutrients. Ute Albrecht, UF/IFAS associate professor of plant physiology, provided …

CRAFT

Sharing CRAFT Knowledge at the Florida Citrus Show

Daniel CooperCRAFT, Events, FCS24, Florida Citrus Show

The Citrus Research and Field Trial (CRAFT) Foundation has been a lifeline to Florida’s citrus industry in the battle against HLB. CRAFT’s programs provide incentives for new plantings and existing tree therapies in exchange for growers submitting data for those projects. CRAFT then analyzes that data for trends and potential solutions. Another key mission of CRAFT is sharing the results …

industry survey

Citrus State of the Industry Survey, Part 1: Grove Conditions

Daniel CooperSurvey

The citrus industry in the Southeast was spared from hurricanes in 2025. In Florida, will that in combination with HLB therapies help turn things in a positive direction for the 2025–26 citrus season? This year’s Citrus State of the Industry Survey aims to answer that question and gauge the current attitude of growers. This month, we share survey results on …