Increased availability and the level of consumption of most popular mandarin varieties, and the reemergence of once popular types such as Satsuma, has led to the reestablishment of the mandarin market throughout the US, especially in California, Texas and Alabama. The US market supply of mandarins in 2005 was around 355,000 metric tons, a 24% increase since 1996. Over this period, the US production of mandarins had decreased by 3% whereas imports have increased by 376% overall. The US per capita consumption of mandarins has increased by almost 16% in just a decade from a mean value of 0.93 kg in the year 1996 to 1.07 kg in 2005.

Production in the USĭespite being among the world leaders in common oranges, the United States lags well behind global leaders in the production of mandarins, tangerine, clementines, and satsumas. All of these fruits are differentiated from common oranges because of their generally smaller sizes, sweetness of taste, ease of peeling, and lack of seeds. Although marketed as the same, mandarins and tangerines are in fact different botanically. Clementines are hybrid fruits, whose origins are disputed between those claiming origins in Cantonese China and those claiming that they originated in North Africa.

Satsumas and tangerines are known for their sweetness and hardiness against cold weather among citrus fruits, and originated in East Asia.

East Asian and Mediterranean regions lead the globe in production tonnage of mandarins, tangerines, clementines, and satsumas.

Clementine growing season