We look to yesterday for the way forward. Anemoia, or a nostalgia for a time you’ve never lived in, is permeating through younger generations wearing T-shirts, sporting shoes, and rocking to music older than their parents. Icons have become emblematic of a time just out of reach.
“The Sunkist® brand is a classic American icon. For 131 years, we have been a global benchmark for citrus and, over the years, we have built one of the most recognizable brands in grocery,” explains Christian Harris, Chief Operating Officer at Sunkist Growers.
But the reverence goes beyond the store. Sunkist has made a mark in fashion, cinema, and in media. In my own town of Orange, California, a building still known as the Sunkist Fruit Exchange has recently been bought and reopened as a trendy cafe. The familiar citrus symbol is universal, and it is proving to be continuously in motion.
As we close out the year, the Sunkist citrus cooperative is preparing for yet another resurgence, this time with a whole new brand platform.
“Sunkist isn’t simply resting on its legacy. Our co-op of family farmers is as passionate today as they were when we started in 1893. Our story is powerful. Our brand is trusted. Our business model gives retailers who carry our products a unique advantage to build a deeper emotional connection with their shoppers. Emotional connections build trust and, ultimately, loyalty,” Christian shares. “Our new Sunny Days campaign and brand platform aims to celebrate what has made Sunkist a household name throughout the world and a trusted part of our consumers’ lives for generations.”
Sunkist Growers is owned by more than 1,000 California and Arizona growers, many multigenerational and averaging less than 80 acres. This fact puts the cooperative at the center of a consumer majority that wants to know their dollars are going toward smaller and grower-owned businesses.
“Our collective of family farms are not destined to be overshadowed. Our growers are passionate about the fruit they nurture and we’re here to celebrate what they do by bringing them to the forefront of our campaign. This new era of Sunkist represents an exciting opportunity for retailers to demonstrate their shared values with shoppers by supporting a collective of community-minded growers and families that make up our membership,” Cassie Howard, Senior Director of Category Management and Marketing, explains, sharing how data backs this very strategy. “Eighty percent of survey participants in our research have answered they would be more likely to purchase from a member-owned co-op versus a traditional business. Sunkist Growers is the longest-standing agricultural co-op in the country. By advancing this message to consumers and supporting our retailers with it, we believe we’ll be able to drive preference for the Sunkist brand and drive category performance.”
“Sunkist [Growers] isn't simply resting on its legacy. Our co-op of family farmers is as passionate today as they were when we started in 1893.”
Christian Harris, Chief Operating Officer, Sunkist Growers
Throughout the 2025 season and beyond, Sunkist will be making strategic investments in new original content designed to improve category consumption, promote variety exploration, and improve purchase intent. In tandem, the co-op is developing new content to support the most popular varieties it grows, leaning into educating consumers about everything from unique flavor and nutritional aspects of its fruit to promoting cross-variety exploration to further drive category performance and engagement.
In addition to launching the Sunny Days brand platform, Sunkist is developing integrated consumer campaigns and retail support programs—new digital programmatic, connected TV, digital audio and social media, and advertising—with creative expressions that connect consumers to the over 1,000 family farms that make up the co-op.
In turn, Sunkist plans to support retailers who carry its portfolio of citrus with targeted marketing dollars that will promote purchase intent and drive consumption. In other words, the co-op is activating demand rather than waiting to answer it.
With consumer campaigns and retailer support programs set to launch throughout the 2025 season, as well as additional rollouts over the next several seasons across a wide variety of marketing elements, it’s easy to assume that this has taken up most of the team’s research and resources.
Think again!
In addition to new investments in consumer marketing and brand positioning, Sunkist has made significant strides in on-the-ground infrastructure. Improvements from the grove all the way to how the co-op delivers to customers are setting the stage for a new era of success—for Sunkist and for those it serves.
“We are calling this Sunkist i3™—Investing in Technology, Innovating with Process, and Implementing with People. With this initiative, our customers can expect continued support, consistent quality and sizing, along with the same reliable, juicy flavor shoppers have come to expect from a brand that has been a beloved part of their households for over 131 years,” Cassie promises.
"Our growers are passionate about the fruit they nurture and we're here to celebrate what they do by bringing them to the forefront of our campaign.”
Cassie Howard, Senior Director of Category Management and Marketing, Sunkist Growers
With a multi-directional approach to not only support rising demand but intentionally ignite it, the new brand platform and consumer media execution fold the excitement of modern advancements with the wisdom and deep understanding Sunkist has of the citrus category.
“Sunkist has been a consistent leader in category management and invested in research to better understand citrus consumers, as well as trends that drive the category. We have identified strategic positioning opportunities and consumer targeting that we believe will have an impact on preference for Sunkist-branded citrus. This has not only directed our creative approach but will allow us to focus our advertising media spend on shoppers who over-index in citrus consumption. Our ultra-targeted approach to promotion will have benefits to retailers who carry our portfolio of citrus varieties,” Cassie assures.
When all is said and done, innovation meets experience to shine a new light on a familiar brand that has helped lead America’s love of citrus for 131 years.
“This isn’t simply another homage to our heritage. Our new direction is a substantial shift in the brand’s creative expression. Utilizing subtle details of classic Sunkist advertising mixed with vibrant new brand colors and textures, the platform will usher in an exciting new era of optimism that connects on a deeper emotional level with consumers,” Cassie concludes. “We’re here to remind our older generations that Sunkist has been alongside them for their best moments and present new generations with that same promise.”
The vow? With Sunkist, Sunny Days are ahead. 
