By Kip Kirchberg
On April 22 Frank Hunt III provided a letter to packing house employees sharing that the packing house would be closing and not re-opening. According to the letter the reason for closing was due to Citrus Greening caused by hurricane Irma and lost citrus supply.
Hunt Bros. held on for the past five years hoping the trees would bounce back from Irma’s damage unfortunately reality set in as trees crashed and now must be replanted.
According to the letter it will take nearly a decade for trees to start producing at a level that would be sustainable. In order to fund new planting Hunt Bros. states they were forced to sell over 1,000 acres of groves that even further reduced their future citrus supply.
The packing house is scheduled to conclude business and pack their last carton of fruit May 6th.