Sunkist Growers, Incorporated: Difference between revisions
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Sunkist has three levels of organizational hierarchy: local, district, and central associations. Individual growers belong to a local organization; local organizations belong to a district organization, and district organizations belong to a central organization. The main purpose of the cooperative is to create systems enabling fruit from multiple growers to be efficiently harvested, sorted into various sizes and grades, and packed and shipped across the United States, in response to shifting demand.<ref name="Sackman">{{cite book|last=Sackman|first=Douglas Cazaux|title=Orange Empire: California and the Fruits of Eden|year=2005|publisher=University of California Press|isbn=0-520-23886-9|page=93}}</ref> |
Sunkist has three levels of organizational hierarchy: local, district, and central associations. Individual growers belong to a local organization; local organizations belong to a district organization, and district organizations belong to a central organization. The main purpose of the cooperative is to create systems enabling fruit from multiple growers to be efficiently harvested, sorted into various sizes and grades, and packed and shipped across the United States, in response to shifting demand.<ref name="Sackman">{{cite book|last=Sackman|first=Douglas Cazaux|title=Orange Empire: California and the Fruits of Eden|year=2005|publisher=University of California Press|isbn=0-520-23886-9|page=93}}</ref> |
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Each level of the exchange had a distinct purpose. By joining exchange, citrus growers pledged to deliver all their fruit to their local packing unit. The local packing unit was responsible for helping growers to harvest their citrus and putting the citrus through packinghouse machinery so it could be treated, graded, and packed. The local exchanges pooled the grower fruits together and later redistributed profits back to growers.The district exchanges served as the selling agent for its local packing units, by determining pricing and the markets where the fruit will be sold. The district exchange utilized the sales offices and infrastructure provided by the central exchange. The central exchange unified the cooperative with its research and guidance for the local and district exchanges. It featured departments such as the treasury department which ensured proper accounting and the advertising department which created advertising materials, managed public relations, and encouraged nutritional research. Additionally, the central exchange fostered scientific research on citrus through its field department and collaborations with the University of California and USDA's Citrus Experiment Station in Riverside.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Cumberland |first=William Wilson |title=Cooperative Marketing: Its Advantages as Exemplified in the California Fruit Growers Exchange |publisher=Princeton University Press |year=1917}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Gardner |first=Kelsey Beeler |title=The California Fruit Growers Exchange System |last2=McKay |first2=Andrew William |publisher=US Government Printing Office |year=1950}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Jacobs |first=James A. |title=Cooperatives in the US citrus industry. |publisher=USDA Rural Business and Cooperative Development Service Research Report 137. |year=1994}}</ref> |
Each level of the exchange had a distinct purpose. By joining the exchange, citrus growers pledged to deliver all their fruit to their local packing unit.{{Citation needed|date=December 2023}} The local packing unit was responsible for helping growers to harvest their citrus and putting the citrus through packinghouse machinery so it could be treated, graded, and packed. The local exchanges pooled the grower fruits together and later redistributed profits back to growers.{{Citation needed|date=December 2023}} The district exchanges served as the selling agent for its local packing units, by determining pricing and the markets where the fruit will be sold. The district exchange utilized the sales offices and infrastructure provided by the central exchange. The central exchange unified the cooperative with its research and guidance for the local and district exchanges.{{Citation needed|date=December 2023}} It featured departments such as the treasury department which ensured proper accounting and the advertising department which created advertising materials, managed public relations, and encouraged nutritional research. Additionally, the central exchange fostered scientific research on citrus through its field department and collaborations with the University of California and USDA's Citrus Experiment Station in Riverside.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Cumberland |first=William Wilson |title=Cooperative Marketing: Its Advantages as Exemplified in the California Fruit Growers Exchange |publisher=Princeton University Press |year=1917}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Gardner |first=Kelsey Beeler |title=The California Fruit Growers Exchange System |last2=McKay |first2=Andrew William |publisher=US Government Printing Office |year=1950}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Jacobs |first=James A. |title=Cooperatives in the US citrus industry. |publisher=USDA Rural Business and Cooperative Development Service Research Report 137. |year=1994}}</ref> |
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Since inception, the organization has significantly expanded its activities. In 1906, the CFGE launched the [[Citrus Protective League]], a lobbying arm.<ref>{{cite book|last=American Tariff League|title=The Tariff review, Volumes 41-42|year=1908|publisher=American Economist|page=180 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=qGrnAAAAMAAJ&q=Citrus+Protective+League&pg=PA180}}</ref> In 1907, it formed the [[Fruit Growers Supply Company]] to supply growers with materials such as radios, tires, shooks for fruit crates, [[insecticide]]s, and [[fertilizer]]s at [[wholesale]] prices.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Nelson |first=Ted |date=2006 |title=Citrus Fruit & Forests: The Story of California's Fruit Growers Supply Company |url=https://foresthistory.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/12/FHT_2006_Citrus-fruit-and-forests.pdf |journal=Forest History Today |pages=24-28}}</ref> It later formed the [[Sunkist's Exchange By-Products Company]], which developed markets for products such as [[citric acid]], [[sodium citrate]], [[lemon oil]], [[pectin]], [[orange oil]] and orange pulp.<ref name="Sackman"/><ref>{{cite book|last=McWilliams|first=Carey|title=Southern California: An Island on the Land|year=1980|publisher=Peregrine Smith|isbn=0-87905-007-1|page=[https://archive.org/details/southerncaliforn00mcwi/page/211 211]|url-access=registration|url=https://archive.org/details/southerncaliforn00mcwi/page/211}}</ref> |
Since inception, the organization has significantly expanded its activities. In 1906, the CFGE launched the [[Citrus Protective League]], a lobbying arm.<ref>{{cite book|last=American Tariff League|title=The Tariff review, Volumes 41-42|year=1908|publisher=American Economist|page=180 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=qGrnAAAAMAAJ&q=Citrus+Protective+League&pg=PA180}}</ref> In 1907, it formed the [[Fruit Growers Supply Company]] to supply growers with materials such as radios, tires, shooks for fruit crates, [[insecticide]]s, and [[fertilizer]]s at [[wholesale]] prices.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Nelson |first=Ted |date=2006 |title=Citrus Fruit & Forests: The Story of California's Fruit Growers Supply Company |url=https://foresthistory.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/12/FHT_2006_Citrus-fruit-and-forests.pdf |journal=Forest History Today |pages=24-28}}</ref> It later formed the [[Sunkist's Exchange By-Products Company]], which developed markets for products such as [[citric acid]], [[sodium citrate]], [[lemon oil]], [[pectin]], [[orange oil]] and orange pulp.<ref name="Sackman"/><ref>{{cite book|last=McWilliams|first=Carey|title=Southern California: An Island on the Land|year=1980|publisher=Peregrine Smith|isbn=0-87905-007-1|page=[https://archive.org/details/southerncaliforn00mcwi/page/211 211]|url-access=registration|url=https://archive.org/details/southerncaliforn00mcwi/page/211}}</ref> |
Revision as of 22:08, 7 December 2023
Company type | Agricultural marketing cooperative |
---|---|
Industry | Agriculture |
Founded | 1893 in Claremont, California |
Founder | P.J. Dreher and Edward L. Dreher |
Headquarters | , |
Area served | California and Arizona |
Products | Citrus |
Website | www |
Sunkist Growers, Incorporated is an American citrus growers' non-stock membership cooperative composed of 6,000 members from California and Arizona. It is currently headquartered in Valencia, California.[1] Through 31 offices in the United States and Canada and four offices outside North America, its sales in 1991 totaled $956 million. It is the largest fresh produce shipper in the United States, the most diversified citrus processing and marketing operation in the world, and one of California's largest landowners.[2]
History
In the late 1880s, California citrus growers began organizing themselves into cooperatives, with the goal of increasing profits by pooling their risk and increasing their collective bargaining power with jobbers and packers. The economic depression that began in 1893 worsened farmers' situations, and intensified their desire to self-organize to their own benefit.[3]
In 1893, P.J. Dreher and his son, the "father of the California citrus industry" Edward L. Dreher (1877–1964), and several other prominent citrus farmers and land owners formed the Southern California Fruit Exchange in Claremont, a small college town near Los Angeles. It originally represented only growers of oranges: in 1896 lemon growers joined as well.[3] The exchange initially included growers from Los Angeles County, Orange County, and Riverside County, and later expanded to growers and groves in San Bernardino County and Ventura County. By 1905, the group represented 5,000 members, 45% of the California citrus industry, and renamed itself the California Fruit Growers Exchange. Between 1927 and 1939, the exchange sold more than 75% of all California citrus. In the 1947-48 season, the exchange had around 15,000 citrus growers.[4] In 1952, it changed its name to Sunkist Growers, Inc.
Organizational structure
Sunkist has three levels of organizational hierarchy: local, district, and central associations. Individual growers belong to a local organization; local organizations belong to a district organization, and district organizations belong to a central organization. The main purpose of the cooperative is to create systems enabling fruit from multiple growers to be efficiently harvested, sorted into various sizes and grades, and packed and shipped across the United States, in response to shifting demand.[5]
Each level of the exchange had a distinct purpose. By joining the exchange, citrus growers pledged to deliver all their fruit to their local packing unit.[citation needed] The local packing unit was responsible for helping growers to harvest their citrus and putting the citrus through packinghouse machinery so it could be treated, graded, and packed. The local exchanges pooled the grower fruits together and later redistributed profits back to growers.[citation needed] The district exchanges served as the selling agent for its local packing units, by determining pricing and the markets where the fruit will be sold. The district exchange utilized the sales offices and infrastructure provided by the central exchange. The central exchange unified the cooperative with its research and guidance for the local and district exchanges.[citation needed] It featured departments such as the treasury department which ensured proper accounting and the advertising department which created advertising materials, managed public relations, and encouraged nutritional research. Additionally, the central exchange fostered scientific research on citrus through its field department and collaborations with the University of California and USDA's Citrus Experiment Station in Riverside.[6][7][8]
Since inception, the organization has significantly expanded its activities. In 1906, the CFGE launched the Citrus Protective League, a lobbying arm.[9] In 1907, it formed the Fruit Growers Supply Company to supply growers with materials such as radios, tires, shooks for fruit crates, insecticides, and fertilizers at wholesale prices.[10] It later formed the Sunkist's Exchange By-Products Company, which developed markets for products such as citric acid, sodium citrate, lemon oil, pectin, orange oil and orange pulp.[5][11]
The Sunkist brand
In its early years, the primary problem facing the California citrus industry was an oversupply of fruit. By 1907, California was producing five times the quantity of oranges it had been fifteen years earlier, and orange production was continuing to grow as newly planted orange groves began to bear fruit. In response, in 1907 the CFGE approved the first-ever large-scale advertising campaign aimed at advertising a perishable commodity. The March 1907 campaign, which marketed oranges to Iowans as "healthy" and "summery," resulted in a 50% increase of orange sales in that state. It also launched the Sunkist brand: the ad agency Lord & Thomas originally proposed using the adjective "sun-kissed" to describe the CFGE oranges; the word eventually used in the campaign was Sunkist, made up by the agency so it would be easier to defend afterwards as a trademark.[12]
In an effort to distinguish Sunkist oranges from others, the CFGE wrapped its oranges in paper stamped with the Sunkist brand. But in 1909, after Sunkist learned that merchants were selling non-Sunkist oranges as Sunkist, it began to offer consumers a free Sunkist-branded spoon in exchange for mailing in twelve Sunkist wrappers. One million spoons were claimed in the first year of the promotion, further establishing the brand in consumers' minds and giving merchants a reason to want to display Sunkist oranges in their original wrappers. By 1910, the promotion had resulted in Sunkist becoming the world's largest purchaser of cutlery.[13]
The success of early campaigns prompted Sunkist to invest heavily in advertising, and in coming decades the brand was advertised in magazines and on radio, on billboards, streetcars and railroad cars, on the sides of speedboats, in school curricula and essay contests, and in pamphlets distributed in doctors' offices. Its messaging aimed to reposition oranges in the minds of consumers. Rather than being seen as a luxury to be enjoyed only at Christmas, Sunkist wanted people to see oranges as essential for good health, and to eat one every day.[14]
Sunkist also invested in marketing fresh-squeezed orange juice and lemonade as superior alternatives to "artificial" beverages such as Coca-Cola. By the mid-1930s, one Sunkist orange in five was being consumed in juice form, often at soda fountains, and Sunkist juice was the second-most-popular soda fountain drink, after Coca-Cola.[15]
By 1914, Americans were consuming about forty oranges per person every year, up 80% from 1885.[16]
In 1915, in response to competition from imported Italian lemons, which at that time had nearly half the American market, Sunkist started aggressively marketing the benefits of Sunkist lemons, promoting their use as a hair rinse, in tea, in pie and as a food garnish. By 1924, California lemons had 90% of the American lemon market.[17]
Today
As of 2007, Sunkist markets fresh oranges, lemons, limes, grapefruits, and tangerines to 12 states and three Canadian provinces, from 6,000 growers in California and Arizona. From 1971 to 2014, Sunkist was based in the Sherman Oaks district of Los Angeles; in September 2014, it relocated to the Valencia neighborhood of Santa Clarita, California.[1] Through licensing agreements, Sunkist has rented its trademark to other firms such as General Mills and Snapple, for marketing more than 600 mainly citrus-flavoured products including soft drinks and juice drinks, vitamins, and jellies and candies, in more than 50 countries. It also owns two citrus processing plants which manufacture juice, oils, pulp and peels. Sunkist's subsidiaries for marketing, international sales and fruit purchasing include SunMac Hawaii Ltd., Sunkist Global, LLC in California, Sunkist Pacific, Ltd., in Japan, Sunkist (Far East) Promotion Ltd., in Hong Kong, and Sunkist Real Estate Ltd., in California.[18] Sales in 1991 totalled $956 million,[2] with nearly half of revenues generated outside the United States.[18]
Examples of Sunkist trademark licensing
- Sunkist soft drinks including the orange-flavored "Sunkist Orange Soda" and other fruit-flavored sodas, are produced by Keurig Dr Pepper under license from Sunkist Growers; see Sunkist (soft drink). (US)
- "Sunkist Fruit Gems" are a soft fruit candy produced by Jelly Belly under license from Sunkist. Jelly Belly acquired the former producer, Ben Myerson Candy Company,[19] (US & Canada) a subsidiary of Jelly Belly.[20]
- "Sunkist Fruit Snacks", "Sunkist Fruit & Grain Bars", and "Sunkist Baking Mixes" are marketed by General Mills (US)
- "Sunkist NFC Orange Juice and Juice Drinks" are products of A. Lassonde (Canada)
- "Sunkist Fruit First Fruit Snacks" are products of Ganong Bros. (Canada)[21]
- "Sunkist Vitamin C & Supplements" are products of WN Pharmaceuticals (Canada)[22]
- Sunkist juice and juice drinks can be found in Japan, South Korea, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Malaysia, several Persian Gulf countries, Belgium, Malta, Austria, and other countries.[23]
See also
References
- ^ a b Wilcox, Gregory (18 August 2014). "Sunkist leaving San Fernando Valley after four decades". Los Angeles Daily News. MediaNews Group. Retrieved 14 September 2014.
- ^ a b Schoenbrod, David (1995). Power Without Responsibility: How Congress Abuses the People Through Delegation. Yale University Press. p. 6. ISBN 0-300-06518-3.
- ^ a b Cruikshank, Jeffrey L., Arthur W. Schultz (2010). The Man Who Sold America: The Amazing (but True!) Story of Albert D. Lasker and the Creation of the Advertising Century. Harvard Business Review Press. p. 114. ISBN 978-1-59139-308-5.
{{cite book}}
: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) - ^ Tobey, Ronald; Wetherell, Charles (1995). "The Citrus Industry and the Revolution of Corporate Capitalism in Southern California, 1887-1944". California History. 74 (1): 6–21.
- ^ a b Sackman, Douglas Cazaux (2005). Orange Empire: California and the Fruits of Eden. University of California Press. p. 93. ISBN 0-520-23886-9.
- ^ Cumberland, William Wilson (1917). Cooperative Marketing: Its Advantages as Exemplified in the California Fruit Growers Exchange. Princeton University Press.
- ^ Gardner, Kelsey Beeler; McKay, Andrew William (1950). The California Fruit Growers Exchange System. US Government Printing Office.
- ^ Jacobs, James A. (1994). Cooperatives in the US citrus industry. USDA Rural Business and Cooperative Development Service Research Report 137.
- ^ American Tariff League (1908). The Tariff review, Volumes 41-42. American Economist. p. 180.
- ^ Nelson, Ted (2006). "Citrus Fruit & Forests: The Story of California's Fruit Growers Supply Company" (PDF). Forest History Today: 24–28.
- ^ McWilliams, Carey (1980). Southern California: An Island on the Land. Peregrine Smith. p. 211. ISBN 0-87905-007-1.
- ^ Cruikshank, Jeffrey L., Arthur W. Schultz (2010). The Man Who Sold America: The Amazing (but True!) Story of Albert D. Lasker and the Creation of the Advertising Century. Harvard Business Review Press. pp. 114–117. ISBN 978-1-59139-308-5.
{{cite book}}
: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) - ^ Cruikshank, Jeffrey L., Arthur W. Schultz (2010). The Man Who Sold America: The Amazing (but True!) Story of Albert D. Lasker and the Creation of the Advertising Century. Harvard Business Review Press. pp. 114–117–118. ISBN 978-1-59139-308-5.
{{cite book}}
: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) - ^ Sackman, Douglas Cazaux (2005). Orange Empire: California and the Fruits of Eden. University of California Press. pp. 95–101. ISBN 0-520-23886-9.
- ^ Sackman, Douglas Cazaux (2005). Orange Empire: California and the Fruits of Eden. University of California Press. p. 101. ISBN 0-520-23886-9.
- ^ Cruikshank, Jeffrey L., Arthur W. Schultz (2010). The Man Who Sold America: The Amazing (but True!) Story of Albert D. Lasker and the Creation of the Advertising Century. Harvard Business Review Press. pp. 114–119. ISBN 978-1-59139-308-5.
{{cite book}}
: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) - ^ Cruikshank, Jeffrey L., Arthur W. Schultz (2010). The Man Who Sold America: The Amazing (but True!) Story of Albert D. Lasker and the Creation of the Advertising Century. Harvard Business Review Press. p. 119. ISBN 978-1-59139-308-5.
{{cite book}}
: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) - ^ a b Plunkett, Jack W. (2007). Plunkett's Food Industry Almanac 2007: Food Industries Market Research, Statistics, Trends & Leading Companies. Plunkett Research. ISBN 978-1-59392-068-5.
- ^ "Welcome To". Sunkistcandy.com. Retrieved 2014-06-02.
- ^ "Jelly Belly to Buy Ben Myerson Candy Business". progressivegrocer.com. 2006-10-18. Retrieved 2023-07-26.
- ^ "Home". Sunkist. Retrieved 2 December 2018.
- ^ [1] Archived December 30, 2006, at the Wayback Machine
- ^ "Soft Drinks, Fruit Snacks, Fruit Gems - Worldwide Licensed Products from". Sunkist. Archived from the original on 2008-12-08. Retrieved 2014-06-02.
External links
- Agricultural marketing cooperatives
- Agriculture in California
- Orange production
- Companies based in Los Angeles
- History of agriculture in the United States
- History of Southern California
- History of Greater Los Angeles
- Food and drink companies established in 1893
- 1893 establishments in California
- 19th century in Los Angeles
- Agricultural cooperatives in the United States