Wasting Millions of Your Tax Dollars: Florida Department of Citrus’ Epic Failure to Save Florida Citrus
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The Florida Department of Citrus is tasked to save Florida citrus, but they’re a colossal failure, and internationally, FDOC’s efforts are equally pathetic
The Florida Department of Citrus (FDOC) is burning through millions of taxpayer and grower dollars on glitzy advertising and marketing campaigns, both domestically and internationally, with absolutely nothing to show for it. By 2025, Florida’s citrus industry is a shadow of its former self—production down 90% since 1998, groves bulldozed for housing, and small farmers on the brink. Yet, the FDOC keeps pouring money into ineffective ads while the industry crumbles. Let’s break down their job, their failures, and why corruption might be the root of this disaster.
The FDOC’s job, as an executive agency of Florida’s government, is to “maximize consumer demand for Florida citrus products to ensure the sustainability and economic well-being of the Florida citrus grower, the citrus industry, and the State of Florida.” This includes marketing, research, and regulation, funded by a tax on growers per box of citrus sold commercially. In 2025, their budget includes $7 million for marketing, part of a $20 million proposal by Governor Ron DeSantis for the 2025-2026 fiscal year, on top of $9 million already spent in 2024-2025. Their campaigns span domestic e-commerce ads with Walmart and Instacart, international promotions in the UK, France, Japan, South Korea, and Canada, and consumer outreach via social media, influencers, and health-focused infographics.
But these efforts are a colossal failure. Florida’s orange production has plummeted from 244 million boxes in 1998 to a projected 12 million in 2024-2025—a 95% drop. Grapefruit production is down to 1.2 million boxes from 50 million. Citrus acreage has shrunk from 832,000 in 2000 to 275,000 in 2024, with 12% of that lost when Alico Inc. exited the industry in January 2025. Despite FDOC’s claims of success—like $25 million in attributed e-commerce sales in 2022 and $13.43 million by March 2025—these numbers are a drop in the bucket compared to the industry’s $6.9 billion economic impact. FDOC’s Executive Director Shannon Shepp boasts, “There will be a renaissance in this industry,” but where’s the evidence? Orange juice sales have been sliding for years, and FDOC’s own data shows no reversal of this trend, even with their “The Original Wellness Drink” campaign.
Internationally, FDOC’s efforts are equally pathetic. In 2020-2021, they ran promotions in the UK (Waitrose, Sainsbury’s), France (Monoprix, Intermarche), Japan (Florida Grapefruit Day), South Korea (Emart, Coupang), and Canada (Metro Ontario), focusing on health benefits and social media. But global demand for Florida citrus hasn’t budged, and imports from Brazil and Mexico continue to dominate, a problem FDOC has failed to address since a 2003 lawsuit forced them to cut taxes on importers, costing millions in revenue. FDOC’s global marketing director, John Fuller, claimed in 2023, “I’m ready to help draw a deeper connection between consumers and Florida citrus products,” but there’s no sign of that connection in 2025.
Wasting Millions of Your Tax Dollars: Florida Department of Citrus’ Epic Failure to Save Florida Citrus (Note: This is not a FDOC image, but it could sum up a typical work day)
Why are they failing? Their focus is all wrong. Instead of supporting small growers—who can’t afford the $1,882 per-acre production costs against a 203-box-per-acre yield (below the 238 needed to break even in 2020-2021)—FDOC prioritizes flashy ads that benefit big processors like Tropicana. FCC member and Tropicana exec Bill Poulton, serving in 2022, ensured marketing funds supported his company’s bottom line, not small farmers. Meanwhile, FDOC’s $29 million research budget in 2024-2025 goes to solutions like Citrus Under Protective Screens (CUPS), which small growers can’t afford, as Brantley Schirard, Jr. noted: “You’ve got every little group focused on one thing because without an answer to greening, none of it matters.”
Could corruption be the reason? It’s hard to ignore the signs. FDOC’s board, the FCC, includes corporate heavyweights like Poulton and Chris Groom of Florida’s Natural Growers, who steer funds toward big business interests.
The $7 million marketing budget—echoing a Henry Ford quote FDOC loves, “Stopping advertising to save money is like stopping a clock to save time”—seems more about justifying their existence than delivering results. Meanwhile, small farmers like Wayne Simmons, who told Gulfshore Business, “Our livelihood is in the land,” are ignored, forced to sell to developers as FDOC wastes money on ads that don’t work.
The FDOC’s job is to save Florida citrus, but they’re failing miserably. Their millions in ad spending haven’t stopped the industry’s collapse, and their corporate bias reeks of corruption. Florida’s citrus legacy is dying, and FDOC is too busy making commercials to notice.
Sources:
Florida's troubled citrus industry looks to the state for help | WUSF - wusf.org
Florida Citrus Commission - Florida Citrus Growers - floridacitrus.org
Florida Citrus Commission Updated on Marketing Campaigns - Citrus Industry Magazine - citrusindustry.net
Fuller is new Florida Department of Citrus Marketing Director - freshplaza.com
International Marketing Efforts for Florida Citrus - Citrus Industry Magazine - citrusindustry.net
Search for new OJ marketing program leads to few conclusions - theledger.com
Targeting E-commerce to Drive Florida OJ Sales Higher - Citrus Industry Magazine - citrusindustry.net
The time to act is now.
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