The Sumos are then picked by hand and tucked into small totes rather than the massive bins typically used in citrus harvesting. Sumo growers are so worried about exposing their darlings to too much sun, in fact, that they protect them with a powdery citrus sunscreen of sorts that needs to be applied to each fruit during the hottest summer months. The soft, bumpy rind bred for easy peeling needs pampering and protection even while the fruit is still on the tree, requiring careful pruning to get the amount of sunlight just right, according to Gull. Why the Sumo name? It came from the large size, combined with the distinctive knob at the top (reimagined in the minds of its marketers as more of a topknot), together with its Japanese origins.įor all its benefits, the growers who work with it behind the scenes are the first to admit that the shiranui is also more than a bit of a diva. The fruit’s been bred to have a much higher sugar-to-acid ratio than other types of mandarins. Plenty of science and years of cross-breeding and cultivation went into that sweetness. It’s also been the star of splashy marketing campaigns, as its main distributor, selling it under that trademarked Sumo Citrus name, has worked to introduce it to consumers across the country and build its popularity.įor starters, “It has a very sweet flavor, and it’s a very large piece of fruit,” said Sunnia Gull, director of marketing at AC Foods, the Dinuba, Calif., company that owns the Sumo brand. The large, distinctive mandarin, originally from Japan but now also grown in California, has arrived in a growing number of American grocery stores the past few years for a short selling season that starts in January and ends in April. (The generic version is also known as a dekopon.) If citrus fruits could strut into stores on celebrity red carpets, the shiranui would certainly be at the front of the line.ĭon’t think you’ve heard of it? That’s because you probably only know it by its stage name, Sumo Citrus.
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