National Quality Standards to Improve Citrus Quality and Sales
06-Apr-2011
The peak industry body for citrus growers, Citrus Australia, has recently commenced rolling out a national quality standards program throughout the Australian citrus industry, with the aim of improving consumer perception of citrus fruit in an attempt to boost sales and returns to growers.
General Manager of Market Development, Andrew Harty and Manager of Market Information, Nathan Hancock began the process by holding meetings with citrus growers and packers in the Central Burnett region of Queensland.
“Queensland leads our citrus season with Imperial mandarins, so it is critical we get good quality fruit delivered from the start”, Mr Harty said.
“If the first mandarins sent to market taste great, then shoppers will come back for more and the season flows smoothly. In a season like this, where fruit is plentiful, we do not want poor early quality to stall sales.”
Nathan Hancock explained that the quality standards were focused on three quality factors - the juice content, the sugar content, and the balance between sugar and acid.
