The supply of California specialty citrus item pink lemons is steady. The crop, out of Tulare County, California, comes and goes throughout the year and overall volume looks similar to this time last year.
As for demand, it varies. "Sometimes if there's a news article or a segment on TV featuring pink lemons, then you'll see demand go up a bit," says Tony Marquez from Pearson Ranch, which also has supply coming on of Moro Blood Oranges. "However pink lemons kind of fly under the radar a little bit because most people haven't heard of them." That said, pricing is similar to last year at this time.
Variety of uses
Like regular lemons, pink lemons (which do run smaller in size compared to regular lemons) have a variety of uses–from squeezing them for pink lemonade or to use with fish and other dishes, or as a unique garnish.
Meanwhile, Pearson Ranch is located within one of California's citrus-growing regions, Porterville, and the state has seen some unsettlement following raids by U.S. Customs and Immigration Enforcement (ICE) in the citrus-growing regions. (Including the three-day one in Kern County, California the first week of January.) The area has also seen subsequent protests against the raids since then and there are reports that all of this activity is affecting the citrus harvest.
"While some people are saying that labor has not been showing up, as far as impacting the citrus harvest, the industry has not stopped. There's harvesting going on all over the place," says Marquez, adding the more disruptive labor activity in the citrus industry is when lucrative crops such as cherries begin production in the Northwest and labor heads north to work those crops. "I've been in the industry for about 30 years now and sometimes there are changes in immigration policy from one administration to the other. Generally, things settle down once the dust settles and everyone calms down and things return to normal."
For more information:
Tony Marquez
Pearson Ranch
Tel: 1-888-667-2643
[email protected]
https://www.pearsonranch.com/