Alico, Inc. has stated that it is remaining strong following Hurricane Ian. It has sent out a press release, saying: "Most importantly, we are grateful that none of our 200+ employees were casualties from this devastating storm in Southwest Florida this week. The full impact of Hurricane Ian on Alico’s assets and operations is still being assessed at this time, but we believe the lessons learned over the past 125 years, especially since Hurricane Irma in 2017, allowed us to be better prepared prior to landfall and to more rapidly begin recovery after impact. The implementation of our disaster programs, our dedicated workforce, and experienced management appear to have limited the damage to our properties."
"Our 48,900 acres of citrus groves, which are located in Charlotte, Collier, DeSoto, Hardee, Hendry, Highlands and Polk Counties, sustained hurricane or tropical storm force winds for varying durations of time. Field assessments are ongoing, but initial observations include significant drop of fruit from trees and the magnitude of this drop will be formally calculated by our staff and our insurance companies over the coming weeks. As of the time of this press release, initial inspections indicate that substantially all of our trees remain intact, with the exception of a single grove in Charlotte County that was in the direct path of the storm. We believe this indicates that Company-wide, the greater impact of the storm will be on production in the current season, and possibly next season, rather than on long-term production."
"Alico did not experience any significant flooding at our properties. Our leased office headquarters in Ft. Myers in Lee County was not damaged, and our other property and equipment also was not materially impacted."
"Alico maintains crop insurance for catastrophic events on all of our groves. While all of our groves experienced an impact from Hurricane Ian, not all of our groves may have suffered enough damage for insurance claims. Alico maintains insurance for catastrophic loss of trees, which is not likely to be significant from this storm. Alico also maintains property and casualty insurance for any of our structures damaged from this storm. The Company will work closely with Florida Citrus Mutual, the citrus industry trade group, and government agencies on potential federal relief funds and will seek any and all federal, state or local assistance programs to aid in our recovery."
"Alico will still be supplying Tropicana, Peace River, Cutrale and Florida’s Natural with all available fruit during the upcoming harvest season, which will begin later this year. There are no minimum quantities required to be delivered under our supply contracts, so there is no exposure to penalties due to the anticipated diminished crop size this year."
For more information: alicoinc.com