BARTOW, Fla. – The Florida Citrus Commission approved a revised 2020-21 operating budget for the Florida Department of Citrus Wednesday of nearly $19.8 million.
The commission voted to sustain the preliminary budget set in June, prior to the October crop forecast, through a box assessment of $.12 on oranges used for processing plus up to $1 million in fund balance. Box assessments for fresh orange, grapefruit and specialty citrus remain the same as the previous year at $.05, $.07 and $.07 respectively.
The change in the box assessment rate for processed oranges along with the use of fund balance allow domestic orange juice marketing activities to remain at the same level proposed by the FDOC in June. The FDOC’s 2020-21 campaign focuses on e-ecommerce campaigns that drive consumers to purchase Florida Orange Juice through online retail partners, and also includes paid display and search, social media, influencer engagement, earned media and events. The campaign is estimated to lead to 750 million impressions and drive $8 to $10 million in sales directly attributable to FDOC programs. For an overview of marketing activities, please click the 2020-21 OJ Marketing Plan At-A-Glance.
“As a grower, I can’t individually influence the amount of orange juice people drink. But, collectively as a Commission, we can. Today’s vote marks a return to investing in our future and working together to ensure the Florida Citrus industry is here for years to come,” said Ned Hancock, Chairman of the Florida Citrus Commission.
The revised budget is an increase of about $4 million over the previous season, largely due to an increase in General Revenue funds. The budget includes $5.650 million general revenue funding from the State of Florida. It also includes $3.695 million in Foreign Agricultural Service Market Access Program funds from the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) to be used on international programs as well as $275,000 in Agricultural Trade Promotion funds to be used on Fresh Orange programs in Canada and Florida Orange Juice programs in South Korea.
The budget is based on the USDA October crop estimate of 57 million boxes of oranges and 4.5 million boxes of grapefruit.
About the Florida Citrus Commission
The Florida Citrus Commission is the governing board of the Florida Department of Citrus, an executive agency of the Florida government charged with the marketing, research and regulation of the Florida citrus industry. The commission is a nine-member board appointed by the governor to represent citrus growers, processors and packers. FDOC activities are funded by a tax paid by growers on each box of citrus that moves through commercial channels. The industry employs more than 37,000 people and provides an annual economic impact of $6.5 billion to the state. For more information about the Florida Department of Citrus, please visit FloridaCitrus.org.
