LAKE WALES, Fla. — Citrus season in Florida has meant fewer oranges so far this season. In the fall, the U.S. Department of Agriculture predicted at least an 11% drop in production from the season before; however, one grower expects to yield far less.
What You Need To Know
- Many growers are yielding fewer oranges so far this citrus season
- Much of it is due to the ‘greening’ disease, strangling trees and forcing fruits to drop prematurely
- Florida Department of Citrus is doing a ‘Winter Wellness Campaign,’ in which it’s paying people like Instagram ‘influencers’ to promote orange juice
In order to help growers get more bang for their buck, the Florida Department of Citrus is doing a ‘Winter Wellness Campaign’ to enhance marketing and increase the demand for orange juice in Florida.
With certain types of oranges finally ripe for the picking, there’s a lot of that happening in groves across Florida.
Hamlin oranges at Christian Spinosa’s grove are being hand-picked and carted away for juicing at the Florida’s Natural plant in Lake Wales.
“This is our busy time of year,” he gleams.
Although the loads seem hefty, there’s a bit of a shadow cast over the season; the crop isn’t as large as Spinosa’s used to. Such was the forecast projected by the USDA, ahead of the 2022 picking season. Citrus crops seem to decline.
“For sure, I think we’ll probably see a lower crop than what was originally estimated,” he said. “Low turnout’s not what we want, especially right now. Input costs on everything are going up, our fertilizers… all our materials. So, when we have a lower pick out, that’s going to affect what we can put back in,” Spinosa explained.
He blames much of the loss to the struggle growers are going through against a disease called ‘greening,’ or HLB (Huanglongbing).
It’s a fight. HLB chokes the trees, causing their fruits to fall off before ripening. Farmers don’t have a clear way to combat it yet, although work is being done to come up with a cure.
The battle to grow more takes place when demand for orange juice is on the rise, according to FDOC. The department claims the trend of drinking the juice for health grew during the COVID-19 pandemic, and they’re working to raise it even higher.
The ‘Winter Wellness Campaign’ is an effort to drive up juice demand through internet sales, doing things like paying people to advertise the juice on social media.
There are Instagram ‘influencers,’ users with large followings, being paid some of $40K to use and promote the juice on their profiles.
“So they’re using a lot of these new trends and technologies to reach their consumers and their followers,” FDOC Global Marketing Strategist Samantha Lane says.
The campaign’s total budget is $6 million, with 30% spent on the marketing.
Spinosa feels he’s seen some effects already. With demand up and supply down, prices can rise. Add inflation to that, and it has his family mostly drinking discounted juice.
“Oh yeah, I definitely buy — I drink my fair share of orange juice — and I try to catch it too when it’s on sale at the store,” he admitted.
"juice" - Google News
February 04, 2022 at 11:01PM
https://ift.tt/EJXt28N
Instagram influencers used to promote Florida orange juice - News 13 Orlando
"juice" - Google News
https://ift.tt/4klX1v0
https://ift.tt/D36C8cP
Bagikan Berita Ini
0 Response to "Instagram influencers used to promote Florida orange juice - News 13 Orlando"
Post a Comment