US Orange Crop Destruction Hits Record

The Florida orange crop was at a 70-year low due to hurricanes. The state produces a third of all oranges grown in the US. The catastrophes, which include Hurricanes Milton and Helene, will be worse than expected. Add trade wars to the weather problem.

While the news is bad for orange growers, it is not bad for consumers who drink much less organ juice than before. Despite a drop in supply, there is a fall of in demand. According to a study published in Wiley, “The average U.S. consumer has been drinking less orange and less grapefruit juice over time. Per capita consumption is down more than 50% since the mid-2000s.”

Tropicana Chapter 11

Pepsico is a part owner of the giant organ juice company Tropicana. It recently received a report that said, “Operating profit decreased 127%, reflecting a 93-percentage-point impact of higher impairment and other charges associated with our Tropicana Brands Group (TBG).” Tropicana may file for bankruptcy.

One Company Leaves The Industry

Fort Myers-based Alico Inc is quitting the business completely. Its CEO said, “Our citrus production has declined approximately 73% over the last 10 years, despite significant investments in land, trees and citrus disease treatments, and the current harvest will likely be lower in volume than the previous season. The impact of Hurricanes Irma in 2017, Ian in 2022 and Milton in 2024 on our trees, already weakened from years of citrus greening disease, has led Alico to conclude that growing citrus is no longer economically viable for us in Florida.”

The orange farming problem is yet another example of how climate disasters can batter an entire, large industry.