Clementine Production by Country 2024

A clementine (Citrus clementine) is a hybrid citrus fruit made by crossing a sweet orange (C. sinensis) with a willowleaf mandarin orange (C. deliciosa). It’s named after its creator, Clément Rodier, who first propagated it in Algeria before 1902. Most clementines are produced in China.

Overview

Clementines resemble other orange hybrids like tangerines and satsumas, having a deep orange color and smooth skin compared to oranges. They’re also easier to peel and split into sections than oranges, with a sweet flavor that’s less acidic than oranges. Clementines are available in three types, based on the number of seeds they have. Seedless clementines have no seeds, clementines have no more than 10 seeds and Monreals have more than 10 seeds.

Cultivation

Clementines have a lower tolerance for heat than other citrus varieties, but a warm climate also makes them bear fruit earlier in the growing season. This earlier maturation produces a larger, sweeter fruit that has greater commercial value. As a result, countries in hot regions are more likely to have a higher production of clementines.

Clementines were grown in the United States as early as 1909 at the Citrus Research Center in California, although they didn’t enter commercial production until 1914. Their seedless characteristic is a highly desirable trait of clementines, but this requirement also means that clementines can’t be cross-pollinated with other varieties of citrus fruit. As a result, growers must go to great lengths to keep pollinating insects out of their orchards. For example, Paramount Citrus threatened to sue beekeepers in 2006 for this reason.

Production

The Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) groups clementines with mandarin oranges and tangerines when reporting on their production. Note that China accounts for about 60 percent of the world’s production of clementines, mandarins and tangerines, producing more than 12 times more of these crops than Spain, the second-largest producer. Major producers like Spain, Turkey and Morocco reflect the proximity of those countries to Algeria, the birthplace of clementines. Regions like California and Florida have favorable climates for clementines, but their production is lower because they were already growing other types of oranges by the time clementines were introduced to those areas.