Citrus is not one campaign — it's a relay. From the first early mandarins in autumn to the late Verna lemons and Valencia Lates in spring, the category runs for the best part of the year. The buyers who get the most out of it treat it as a single, planned line rather than a series of spot buys.
The hand-off between varieties is where programmes usually wobble. Clementines give way to Clemenvillas and Tangos; Navelinas to Navels, Lane Lates and Powells. Each has its own window, its own calibre curve and its own eating quality — and the overlaps are shorter than people expect.
A citrus programme lives or dies on the hand-off between varieties. Plan the overlaps, not just the peaks.
Our job is to map that relay with you before the season starts: which varieties cover which weeks, where the calibre fits your listing, and how we keep the line steady when a variety comes in short or long.
Three things to agree early
- The variety calendar that keeps your line unbroken from autumn to spring.
- Your core calibres — and the acceptable range on either side of them.
- How we flex when weather moves a variety window forward or back.
Done well, your customers never see the hand-offs. The fruit on shelf just stays consistent, week after week, for months.
