Imports of Moroccan mandarins look plentiful

Overview of clementines and tangerines from Morocco in the U.S. market, complemented by charts from Agronometrics. Original published on March 4, 2025.

The import supply of conventional mandarins from Morocco looks to be strong right now. “The quality of fruit is fantastic and there’s value on the import side of the business for promotions to supplement branded domestic fruit,” says Nelly Czajkowski of DiSilva Fruit, adding that it also has a good supply of organic mandarins from California.

Morocco typically begins shipping fruit in October-November, though the company begins its shipping in January with the Nadorcott variety. It will continue to ship from Morocco until April-May after which it will transition to fruit from Peru, Chile, and South Africa. Much of this fruit is distributed amongst the Northeastern U.S.

Along with imports, the company is also shipping fruit from domestic grower partners. “There’s opportunity there because many retailers want to carry brands with some national awareness and money behind marketing,” says Czajkowski, adding that it also has a strong organic mandarin program from California. “We’ve had new growers come on over the last couple of years and seen significant growth in our Morning Kiss and Private Label programs.”

Source: USDA Market News via Agronometrics.
(Agronometrics users can view this chart with live updates here)

Source: USDA Market News via Agronometrics.
(Agronometrics users can view this chart with live updates here)

However it’s largely packing fruit–right now, California Tangos and Murcotts–from California in its Chelsea, MA facilities for distribution. On the East Coast in the fall, it also had a Georgia Satsuma program which came about following increased citrus plantings in the state.

This season, the company has an additional grower it’s importing from this season. “Mandarin demand year over year has increased. We’ve been importing for about five years now and we’ve been adding on growers to build out our program because the demand is there,” says Czajkowski.

As for mandarin pricing, it is similar to last year and Czajkowski adds that this is a good time for mandarin promotions.

The News in Charts is a collection of stories from the industry complemented by charts from Agronometrics to help better tell their story.

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