By Ned Hancock, Chairman of the Florida Citrus Commission
During the May meeting of the Florida Citrus Commission, there was a discussion regarding whether now is the time to place a larger emphasis on Not-From-Concentrate (NFC) orange juice in our marketing campaigns.
To be certain, promoting NFC promotes Florida growers.
In fact, 80 percent of Florida’s processed oranges are used in NFC orange juice. While imports of NFC had been on the rise in recent years, juice sourced from Florida fruit for NFC still exceeds total NFC imports by a wide margin. Florida Oranges are the primary source of NFC for Florida processors with at least 85 percent of processor juice acquired each season coming from Florida Oranges.
Further, sales of NFC OJ, which is positioned as a premium product when compared to the mostly imported juice used in Recon, supports Florida grower returns because of our higher costs of production.
So, how do we promote NFC OJ?
With a campaign that highlights the premium quality of NFC OJ that’s designed to drive consumers to purchase at retail.
The majority of NFC OJ – nearly 90 percent – is sold at retail stores, with a minor portion of sales within premium foodservice channels.
This season, the industry invested in laying the foundation of this plan. The current campaign to drive sales of 100% orange juice through e-commerce has paid off. Since January, the program has driven more than $3.85 million in attributed sales of 100% orange juice, reached 279 million impressions and provided a Return On Ad Spend (ROAS) of $4.36.
For 2020-21, Edible has presented the opportunity to broaden our target audience and increase e-commerce programs that directly drive consumer purchases of orange juice at retailers such as Publix, Wal-Mart, and Kroger. A shift to ensuring those sales are purely NFC OJ is simple.
Edible can also be more overt in the messaging of NFC. Florida has always been at the forefront of FDOC marketing campaigns, but small shifts to educate consumers on the premium nature of NFC and highlight the high-quality product Florida produces are easily done.
A recent headline read: “Orange Juice sales get sweeter as consumers look for immunity strengthening.” Consumer sentiment has shifted, behaviors are changing. If ever there was a time to go bigger and bolder for Florida growers, this is it.
Originally published in the Florida Citrus Mutual Triangle
