Valencia, Calif. – Citrus is considered a prized staple of Chinese and Lunar New Year festivities, as it is traditionally given as a gift symbolizing good luck and prosperity in the future. Sunkist has created a limited-edition Year of the Dragon-themed 10-pound carton to help keep the citrus category at the forefront of longstanding celebrations domestically and across Asia.
In Chinese culture, the dragon holds important significance as it is the only mythical creature in the Chinese zodiac representing good luck, strength, and health. Sunkist’s limited edition ‘Year of the Dragon’ cartons and matching merchandising program feature an authentic Chinese design with bold, custom illustrations printed with a focus on red and gold colors. With the growth of this program, Sunkist has continued to expand its offerings. The 10-pound cartons can hold either Navel oranges or Cara Cara oranges, and new this year we have exclusive packaging for select retailers. While our display bins continue to offer a terrific way to highlight any in-season conventional or organic variety, including Pummelos, Blood oranges, lemons, California mandarins, Minneola tangelos, and grapefruit.
“According to Circana, season-to-date citrus is trending ahead of last year, outpacing total produce and fruit,” said Cassie Howard, Sr. Director of Category Management and Marketing at Sunkist Growers, Inc. “As we’ve seen the building up of consumer demand towards specialties, the Lunar New Year shopping season is a great event for retailers to promote in-stores to keep citrus top of mind.”
A recent Sunkist-commissioned study revealed when consumers were asked what advertisements incentivized direct citrus purchases, recipe inspiration, and utilization tips were at the top of their lists. Sunkist’s merchandising program features interactive point-of-sale materials with scannable QR codes providing real-time recipe inspiration to shoppers.
“The fruit this year is also producing some of the largest sizes we have seen in recent memory,” adds Howard. “As more consumers turn to citrus to help them celebrate the Lunar New Year, retailers should capitalize on our interactive display bins to create bountiful opportunities to provide great value to their customers with big fruit offerings.”
In addition to Lunar New Year-themed merchandising bins, Sunkist also has new bin headers and header cards this season that promote flavor information and nutritional benefits, as well as trending recipes that can be easily interchangeable for all in-season varieties.
Be sure to contact your local Sunkist sales rep to learn more about how to incorporate citrus celebrations in-store. May this year bring happiness, success, and lots of good eating to citrus fans around the world!
Sunkist Growers is a citrus marketing cooperative, founded in 1893, which is owned by and operated for thousands of family farmers growing citrus in California and Arizona. For more information, visit www.sunkist.com.
