Use Specialty Citrus to Add Color, Variety to Winter Produce Selection

Credit: FRIEDA’S INC./MARLIESE WARD

With the wide assortment of citrus fruits currently in season, Los Alamitos, Calif.-based Frieda’s Specialty Produce is urging retail produce managers to employ the vividly hued fruits to bring excitement to winter produce departments.

As well as standard navel oranges and lemons, retailers can offer such specialty items as Moro Blood Oranges, Cara Cara Oranges and Meyer Lemons. Further possibilities include variegated Pink Lemons and Shasta, Yosemite and Tahoe Mandarin varieties.

Among Frieda’s additional merchandising suggestions are the sweet Oroblanco or Melogold grapefruit-Pommelo hybrid, which has a sweet, low-acid flavor with hints of grapefruit; kumquats, Mandarinquats, Key limes and limequats; Buddha’s Hand Citron, whose rind is used to infuse spirits, make candied citron rind, or add flavor to marmalades and sauces; and the grapefruit-sized Ugli® Fruit, a unique tangelo from Jamaica.

“Shoppers are more receptive than ever to unique citrus varieties like Meyer Lemons and Blood Oranges, thanks to food writers and bloggers and countless recipes available,” observed Frieda’s president and CEO Karen Caplan. “Don’t be shy about keeping produce displays full and fresh with these deliciously popular specialty varieties.”

The introducer of kiwifruit, shallots, cherimoyas, Donut® peaches, Sugar Snap™ peas and habanero peppers to the U.S. market, Frieda’s offers over 600 specialty items to grocery stores and foodservice distributors throughout the United States and Canada.