Australian Sumo mandarins are hitting the market in autumn, targeting the Mid-Autumn Festival market.

Recently, the International Fruit and Vegetable Report interviewed Greg Asta, the export sales manager of Ac foods Australia, at the Australian Trade Commission booth at the 2025 China International Fruit Expo. Asta introduced, "The Sumo citrus grown in Australia arrives in August and September, which is off-season from Chinese citrus. Moreover, it coincides with the Mid-Autumn Festival, making it a perfect holiday gift."

Sumo citrus is sweet and juicy, with an easy-to-peel and seedless characteristic, perfectly matching the taste preferences of Chinese consumers. It was introduced that last year, Australian-grown Sumo citrus began to enter the Chinese market, with China expected to become the second-largest export market after the United States.

The Sumo citrus is named after "sumo," because the fruit is large and round, resembling a Japanese sumo wrestler with a topknot. The Sumo variety is a late-ripening citrus hybrid, known as dekopon in Japan, and in China it is called "ugly orange." It was created in 1972 by crossing Kiyomi mandarin and Nakano 3 No. Satsuma.

The first dekopon citrus seedlings were introduced to the United States in 1998, exclusively licensed to Ac foods USA for cultivation. In recent years, through investment in social media marketing, Sumo citrus has become a popular fruit, attracting a large number of young consumers in Europe and America.

Ac foods owns over 20,000 acres of orchards in California, Oregon, and Australia, cultivating citrus, blueberries, hazelnuts, and other crops. Currently, there are 600 acres of Sumo citrus planted in Victoria, with an annual production of approximately 600,000 boxes (6 pounds per box).

In August of this year, Legacy Packing, a subsidiary of Australia's AC Foods, in collaboration with Tomra, upgraded the packaging plant's equipment and facilities. It is expected that by June 2026, the packaging capacity will increase to 36,000 boxes per day.

Image source: AC Foods; International Fruit and Vegetable Report; Sumo Citrus 2025 International Fruit and Vegetable Report. All rights reserved. Reproduction requires permission from the International Fruit and Vegetable Report and credit must be given to the source.