Ojai Pixie tangerines are getting a late start this season following a cooler summer. "This winter has also been very mild," says Emily Ayala of Friend's Ranches. "We had rains from October to December–we had a lot of rain in December, followed by very warm weather. It never got below 50°F at night in December and January was warm too."
© Friend's Ranches
The cold temperatures develop color on the citrus which right now, is still more green. However winter seems to have finally arrived in southern California and those temperatures are expected to help turn that color. This is later than usual given the grower-shipper would normally start harvesting at this time.
The crop is also a smaller one this year at an estimated 1.5 million lbs. "The 2025 Pixie crop was huge and Pixies are very alternate bearing, so we knew this crop would be very light," says Ayala, noting Pixies are lighter in color than other mandarins but they're very sweet, seedless and easy to peel. "Also because there's less fruit on the trees, it's larger in size which most marketers like because it's easier to sell. Though because it's a smaller crop and the fruit is still somewhat green, we don't even have a harvest start date set yet."
Ojai Pixie shipping dates
A harvest date may be even more so in question given wet conditions are expected in southern California through the end of the month. "Even if we wanted to harvest next week, we might be delayed from the rains," she says. The company's goal is to get fruit on the West Coast store shelves by March 10 and then to East Coast stores by mid-month. Generally, shipping finishes in May, though in years with larger crops, that can extend to July.
© Friend's Ranches
Meanwhile, demand is expected to be strong for Ojai Pixie tangerines. "A lot of the Central Valley fruit has been damaged by too much rain. There's also a lack of quality due to the fog issues they had," says Ayala.
All of this is leaving pricing up slightly this year at retail. "Our costs of doing business have gone up. The fruit is larger so it makes sense that we can get more for it," says Ayala. "We're still a group of small family farmers trying to keep agriculture viable in the Ojai Valley so on a light year like this, we need to make it profitable for growers to be here for the long term."
For more information:
Emily Ayala
Friend's Ranches/Ojai Pixie Growers
Tel: +1 (805) 646-2871
[email protected]
www.friendsranches.com
