SCSA Citrus End of Year Update
In 1999, a few brave growers from Citrusdal in South Africa started a challenging, yet rewarding, journey of shipping a few oranges to the US market. This was the inception of the Summer Citrus from South Africa program and our group’s “American dream.”
Citrusdal is the main production area of our offerings into the US, and is situated in the Western Cape, which is +/- 2hours away from the beautiful coastal city of Cape Town. The Western Cape and Northern Cape are the only citrus production areas in South Africa with access to the US due to phytosanitary reasons.
What followed was a journey filled with many challenges and opportunities to sustainably grow and establish a successful cohesive business model that would be recognized across the globe. The journey would include multiple players collaborating for the greater good of the industry, resulting in their own businesses growing responsibly. This aligns with the famous Latin proverb “fortes fortuna adiuvat,” meaning “fortune favors the brave” and in very simple terms “the brave will be rewarded!”
Since day one, we held true to our business model of managing supply and demand, and our mission of complementing local US citrus production, by offering the US consumer fresh, sweet, and delicious citrus in the summer months, when otherwise unavailable.
Together with our loyal service providers and business partners, we have established ourselves as the preferred supplier of citrus during the summer months in the US. As times have changed and evolved, we stood true to our basic principle of choosing the right business partners, with a focus on long-term sustainable business relationships.
Please enjoy this video including highlights, a close up look at our fruit quality and our importers. What a year!
The 2025 season was, as so many similar seasons, a perfect example of turning a huge challenge, into a massive opportunity. In fact, despite the tariffs, this was our record season year to date! This is a result of showing our commitment to the US market, our investment into developing and establishing a challenging market, and sophisticated supply-chain solutions to align with the demand of the US market.
As we concluded our season, we received the news that imported oranges will be exempt from the tariffs. Though this does not mean business as usual, it at least means we are back in business for the 2026 season!
We are hopeful that Easy Peelers, Grapefruit and Lemons will also be included in the exemption as we are totally counter seasonally to local US citrus production. With the tariffs, all service providers are working together to ensure the economics make sense for all parties involved. Fresh produce does not come from a fabric but is a precious gift from mother nature and due to the seasonality of our citrus, we complement US local citrus production by being 100% counter to citrus production in the US.
I would like to take this opportunity to thank all our service providers, bilateral groups, shipping lines, ports, loyal importers, and US retailers for the continued support. You are truly the real dream team!
I wish you all a blessed festive season and a prosperous 2026! We will be attending Southern Exposure in Orlando at the end of February and look forward to connecting with our US counterparts during this event.
Please stay up-to-date during the season and reach to out to our grower-exporters or importers to secure your citrus during the summer months.
Proudly shipping and selling the world’s finest Summer Citrus!
Thank you for the continued support!
Suhanra Conradie
CEO – Summer Citrus from South Africa
suhanra@summercitrus.com
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