Soft citrus challenges dominant position of oranges in citrus sector

The third Citrus Summit organised by the Citrus Growers Association of South Africa (CGA) took place in Port Elizabeth on 12-14 March 2019 and was attended by 600 delegates. The conference covered different issues including the evolving political, economic and business perspective from a South African perspective, ethical compliance, biosecurity issues, logistics developments as well as market development for the EU, the US and Russia. During the summit, Freshfel general delegate Philippe Binard presented a global analysis of the citrus market, looking at trends for production, trade and consumption for the citrus category as a whole as well as for oranges, soft citrus, lemons and grapefruit. Most notably, soft citrus has registered a remarkable increase in its share of the citrus market, while the reverse is the case for oranges. Spain remains the leading supplier of oranges, while Mexico leads the way in lemons and limes. The growth of production, in particular for lemons and soft citrus, will require international partnership and cooperation to stimulate consumption around the world.