Those who plan purchases of citrus fruit for the food industry always work with two variables: the price of the fresh raw material, which fluctuates by 40-60% throughout the year, and the optimal availability window, which varies for each variety. Understanding Calabrian seasonality means reducing costs and improving the quality of the finished product.
Calendar of Calabrian harvests
The Calabria produces citrus fruits almost all year round. The main windows:
- September: starting early clementines (Marisol, Nules), very first flowering lemon.
- October: common clementines, early flower lemons in full production, early Navelina oranges.
- November-December: absolute peak of clementines, Navel Tarocco Esterno oranges, first mandarins.
- January: full production blonde oranges, late Hernandina clementines, Bianchetto lemons.
- February-March: Tarocco oranges for juice and table, Bianchetto lemons, last late mandarins.
- April-May: last late oranges, first verdello lemons.
- June-August: green lemon, processed bergamot.
When the price is at its lowest
For those who buy fresh to transform:
- Clementines: November-December. Prices drop by 20-35% compared to early September prices.
- Squeezing oranges: February-March. The peak of Tarocco creates an abundant supply.
- Lemon: January-March. Bianchetto is the lemon with the best quality/price ratio.
- Mandarin: December-January for the early flower, March for the late flower.
When to program frozen foods
The advantage of frozen foods is that they allow the quality to be “fixed” at the moment of maximum ripeness. Recommended transformation windows:
- Frozen orange pulp: February-March. Full calendar Taroccos give the best Brix/acidity ratio.
- Individually frozen clementine wedges: December-January. Maximum Brix and minimum prices.
- Lemon pulp: January-February. Bianchetto has the highest acidity of the year.
- Mandarin cubes: December.
Typical annual schedule
For an ice cream industry that works 12 months:
- September-October: define annual requirements with the supplier, block prices.
- November-March: receive frozen batches of clementines, oranges, lemons.
- April-May: receive the last batches of Bianchetto lemons and Tarocco oranges.
- June-August: receive green lemon and bergamot.
- September: renegotiate the annual contract.
Good years, bad years
Climatic conditions modify production by up to 30-40% per year. Typical events:
- Spring frosts: they destroy flowering, halve the production of the following September.
- Summer drought: reduces size, increases Brix, lowers juice yield.
- Excessive rain in harvest: they worsen sugaring and increase the risk of rotting.
A serious supplier communicates the year’s forecasts in advance and offers technical alternatives.
Plan with usannual purchases and receive periodic bulletins on the progress of the Calabrian harvests.
