How Do You Grow a Fruit to Legendary Status?

It takes hard work and a lot of patience to deliver the ultimate citrus experience to stores each year. Since we cultivated the first Sumo Citrus groves outside of Japan almost 30 years ago, our expert growers have perfected the art of growing this notoriously finicky fruit in California and Australia.

Pampered from seed to STORE

From the first bloom to harvest time, our growers uphold ambitiously high standards every step of the way. These are the stages of our seasonal growing cycle.

Spring
Summer
Fall
Winter

Pruning

Growers carefully prune our groves to make sure each Sumo Citrus grows to its full potential. This protects the trees from one season to the next and allows each tree to produce the sweetest, most extraordinary fruit.

Bloom

When the Sumo Citrus trees explode with flowers, the fruiting process has begun. The petals of each bloom fall away, and in their place, a budding Sumo Citrus fruit is left behind to grow.

Irrigation

As spring turns to the hot, dry days of summer, our growers use innovative, sustainable methods to irrigate the groves and make sure the Sumo Citrus trees receive enough water to sustain the fruit’s growth.

Sun Protection

Sumo Citrus loves warm, sunny weather, but its delicate skin is easily sunburned. Our growers take careful precautions to protect the fruit from damage by the harsh summer rays in California and Australia.

Measurement

As summer fades into fall, our growers begin to measure the fruit weekly to track its average growth, and project the harvest ahead, aiming to deliver only the most enormous Sumo Citrus to stores.

Color Break

When the weather starts to cool down, the big green Sumo Citrus fruit quickly starts to turn orange, a signal from nature to our growers to get ready: harvest is only weeks away.

Weather Protection

Throughout the colder months, our growers take as many precautions as they do in the summer to protect their groves from potential winter dangers like winds, rain, fungus, and freeze.

Harvest

When the fruit is ready to harvest, each Sumo Citrus is carefully hand picked into small totes instead of big bins, floated down our packing line to prevent bruising, and hand packed into each crate.

Expert Growers With
Extraordinary Passion

It takes dedication, experience, and a genuine love for growing Sumo Citrus to cultivate this notoriously difficult-to-grow fruit. Meet the heroes behind each harvest.

Dennis & Helen Griffith

Roger Smith

Seth Wollenman

The Bay Family

Julie Imbimbo

Keith Cosart

Kellie Neufeld

the latest from
the farms

The Sumo Citrus Australian Fall Harvest

The change of seasons means the arrival of our Australian Sumo Citrus fall harvest and a legendary new twist on a familiar fall flavor.

What Fall Looks Like for Sumo Citrus

Preparing for harvest is one of the most important moments of the growing cycle leading up to the start of Sumo Citrus season.

Summer on the Sumo Citrus Farms

As any Super Fan of this enormously delicious fruit knows, Sumo Citrus is harvested in the winter and available for only four short months of the year. So, what happens on our Sumo Citrus farms in the summer?

A Labor of Love: What Inspires The Growers of Sumo Citrus

When we say Sumo Citrus is the world’s “most pampered” fruit, it’s not an exaggeration.

Meet The Women Who Grow Sumo Citrus

In honor of International Women’s Day, we celebrate the women who grow Sumo Citrus and their unique connection to this legendary fruit. Discover the inspiring stories of these amazing Sumo Citrus growers.

Meet Sumo Citrus Grower Roger Smith

Fans of Sumo Citrus patiently wait each year for January through April, when the fruit is available in stores. But for one expert Sumo Citrus grower, the work is year round.

Where Perfection
takes root

The central valley in California and southern regions of Australia offer ideal conditions for growing citrus due to their hot dry conditions during the summer months, cool winter nights, and ample water supply for irrigation.