Sunkist Growers, Incorporated

, 1943 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. In 1893, P.J. Dreher and his son, Edward L. Dreher, who became the "father of the California citrus industry" (1877–1964), along with several other prominent citrus farmers and land owners formed the Southern California Fruit Exchange in Claremont, a small college town 30 miles (48 km) east of Los Angeles. The exchange originally represented only orange growers; in 1896 lemon growers joined. At the same time, California State Senator Frank Flint in Washington D. C. delivered 30 boxes of "Sun-kist" oranges to congressmen and the Vice President, whose testimonials were used for promotion. 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. In 1952, it changed its name to Sunkist Growers, Inc. 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. Sales in 1991 totalled $956 million, with nearly half of revenues generated outside the United States. ==Organizational structure==

The Sunkist organization features three levels in its hierarchy: local, district, and central associations. Individual growers belong to their specific local organization; local organizations are part of a district organization, and districts participate in a central organization. The cooperative's main purpose 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. 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. Since its inception, the organization has significantly expanded its activities. In 1906, the CFGE launched the Citrus Protective League, a lobbying arm. In 1907, it formed the Fruit Growers Supply Company to provide growers with materials such as radios, tires, shooks (components for fruit crates), insecticides, and fertilizers at wholesale prices. It later formed the Sunkist's Exchange By-Products Company, which developed markets for by-products such as citric acid, sodium citrate, lemon oil, pectin, orange oil and orange pulp. ==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 as many oranges as fifteen years earlier. As newly planted orange groves began to bear fruit, the market was flooded with unsalable oranges, and trees were cut down; this prompted a young marketing executive, Albert Lasker with the Lord & Thomas ad agency, who endeavored to avoid food waste, to pitch a sales plan. In 1907 the CFGE approved the first-ever large-scale advertising campaign aimed at marketing a perishable commodity. The March 1907 campaign, promoting oranges to Iowans as "healthy" and "summery", resulted in a 50% increase in orange sales in that state. It also launched the Sunkist brand: Lord & Thomas originally proposed using the adjective "sun-kissed" to describe the CFGE oranges; the word eventually used in the campaign was Sunkist, created by the agency as a mnemonic device which would be easier to defend if used as a trademark. 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 was aimed to reposition oranges in the minds of consumers. Rather than a luxury to be enjoyed only at Christmas, Sunkist wanted people to believe oranges were essential for good health and to eat one every day. (US & Canada) a subsidiary of Jelly Belly. • "Sunkist Fruit Snacks", "Sunkist Fruit & Grain Bars", and "Sunkist Baking Mixes" are marketed by General Mills (US) "Sunkist Fruit First Fruit Snacks" are products of Ganong Bros. (Canada) • "Sunkist NFC Orange Juice and Juice Drinks" are products of A. Lassonde (Canada) • "Sunkist Vitamin C & Supplements" are products of WN Pharmaceuticals (Canada) • 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. ==Headquarters ==

In 1935, the eight-story Sunkist Building was built by Walker & Eisen at the corner of 5th street and Hope street. In 1981, a structure that opened as the Wells Fargo Building is now FourFortyFour South Flower. The Sunkist 8.3-acre campus in Sherman Oaks is now Citrus Commons. In 2014, Sunkist Growers moved to Valencia, California, near Six Flags Magic Mountain. == See also ==