Wonderful Citrus

Join us in congratulating David Moran as the recipient of the WOW Hub Explorer Award during a recent WOW Coach Summit in Palos Verdes. David received the recognition because he developed a streamlined process for employees to submit their continuous improvement suggestions and easily convert into appropriate project categories. To expand our continuous improvement culture, David trained countless operators and volunteers to test and validate new features. His feedback has improved the internal Hub, making it more user-friendly for employees!

We hosted our international grower partners in Philadelphia this week for our third Wonderful Citrus Grower Symposium. This is one of my favorite events of the year. It’s a great forum to discuss a wide array of topics, ranging from existential threats to citrus (i.e., HLB or citrus greening) to our shared commitment to grow citrus consumption. To all our attendees, thank you for your continued partnership. And a special thank you to our #citruspeople that made this a successful season and event. See you in 2025!! #citrus #Halos #WonderfulSeedlessLemons

The International Fresh Produce Association's Global Produce and Floral Show kicks off this week in Atlanta! Stop by our booth on Friday or Saturday, we'd love to meet you!

Arno Erasmus, our Post-Harvest Pathologist, discusses his thoughts on maintaining superior quality from field to packing house. "We've aligned with our farming teams to determine the best way to pick fruit off the trees and place them in bins. This means avoiding long stems, dumping gently, and handling the fruit with absolute care. Once the fruit arrives at the packing house, we focus on immediate treatment and ensure the fruit stays at optimal temperature during its packing and/or storage."

Join us in congratulating Beth Lightner, STS as the recipient of The Bright Idea Award at a recent WOW Coach Summit in Palos Verdes for accomplishing the highest number of 'Quick Wins.' These quick wins are opportunities within our operation that have simple solutions through root cause analysis with immediate benefits. Beth has completed and collaborated on 24 impressive quick wins this year! Beyond her accomplishments, she documents many of the quick wins throughout her facility, with a strong focus on enhancing safety. If that weren't enough, she is coaching multiple projects, proving she's always in the game and striving for the next big win. 

Wonderful Citrus is proud to share that we've partnered with the McFarland Lions Foundation to bring school supplies to more than 500 students in the Central Valley. Our dedicated employees spent time organizing, packing, and loading supplies for the donation - supporting Wonderful communities is what we do!

The 2024 season tested the resilience and grit of our Texas team (again!). After 30+ years between freeze events, the Rio Grande Valley went through its second in three years. In addition to erratic weather, our Texas #citruspeople continue to manage through a water crisis caused by drought and a delay in water deliveries from Mexico required under the 1944 treaty. Despite it all, our Texas team persevered and now prepares for the 2024/25 season. This week we took some time to celebrate the team’s effort and results in 2024, discuss Wonderful Citrus future strategy, and visit our plantings and ongoing R&D trials. This team makes no excuses and keeps redefining how Texas citrus will be grown/packed/sold in the next decade. #SweetScarletts #RioGrandeJuice

Betsy Quintana, Harvest Director, shares her expertise on how to plan for the harvest of our fresh-quality citrus. "The fruit estimates and data gathered during the summer tells us which locations to harvest first, while customer demand for volume and size drives our seasonal and weekly planning. Our open line of communication with farming, varietal planning teams, and sales is the golden thread that ensures excellent execution."

Produce Business highlighted Wonderful Halos mandarins as the perfect, healthy snack for back-to-school, featuring commentary from our president, Zak Laffite. Follow the link to read the full article. https://lnkd.in/ePjakxgR

On Saturday, September 14th, we hosted our 3rd Annual Run for Autism with more than 900 runners, including Wonderful Citrus employees and their families. We also donated over $45,000 to two local Rio Grande Valley school districts to support their autism-related programs. Thank you to our Wonderful Neighbor volunteers, our Wonderful Citrus Texas employees, and the committed Rio Grande Valley community.