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COVID-19

Florida’s citrus industry has seen a sales boost during pandemic

Verónica Zaragovia Jul 1, 2020
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An orange grove in Fort Pierce, Florida, late last year. Gianrigo Marletta/AFP via Getty Images
COVID-19

Florida’s citrus industry has seen a sales boost during pandemic

Verónica Zaragovia Jul 1, 2020
Heard on:
An orange grove in Fort Pierce, Florida, late last year. Gianrigo Marletta/AFP via Getty Images
HTML EMBED:
COPY

For years, Florida’s citrus industry was hit hard by challenges like extreme weather, particularly hurricanes, and the citrus greening disease, a bacterial infection spread by insects that has caused major crop losses. But when COVID-19 began spreading, the state’s citrus growers got an unexpected boost. In April, retail sales of orange juice spiked by about 50% compared with the same period in 2019.

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