Credits
Overview: Orange Juice (Citrus sinesis)
For many consumers, orange juice is a part of a complete breakfast.
Orange juice is perceived as a very nutritious food, one that is particularly important to consume in the winter as a way to avoid colds (though in fact, there are far better and cheaper sources of vitamin C).
The orange is an evergreen tree originally native to Asia. It was brought across the Middle East and North Africa and introduced into Europe by the Moors in Spain. This is where the Seville orange came from.Oranges were first introduced into the New World in the early 1500s but did not become a commercial crop for some 350 years.
Most-produced fruit in the world
According to the Food and Agriculture Organisation of the UN (FAO 2002), by the year 2000 citrus (which is mostly oranges) was the most-produced fruit in the world with a 22.5% share of all fruit produced.
The most common oranges cultivated at this time, which provide most of the sweet oranges and juice sod in the World, are several different varieties of Citrus sinensis.
The dominance of Florida
There has been a market for orange juice for about 100 years. While fresh oranges are produced throughout the world, it is really Florida growers who created the bulk orange juice market.
This was done as a way to sell their product throughout the year in order to avoid glutting the market during the harvest. In the past, Southern California (e.g., Orange County) also produced a lot of oranges, but now real estate development and water shortages have reduced production there.
Increase in producing countries expected
In the 1970s severe frosts in Florida ruined harvests, and buyers began to look further afield to find sources of oranges for juice. At that time, significant production started in the states of Sao Paulo and Parana in Brazil's Atlantic coastal forest area. Most of the lands that were ultimately planted with oranges had previously been used to grow coffee.
Overproduction of juice globally now characterises the fresh and frozen orange juice markets and contributes to declining prices. However, diseases in Florida and Brazil are reducing production and increasing production costs, and production there is expected to decline by 25% within the next 5-10 years. In all likelihood, this will stimulate a new wave of planting and production in other countries.