Emerging Brands: Where Did Halos Come From?

“In the food business, few things are as rare as a recognized brand name in fresh produce. For every Sunkist orange, there a million nameless apples, anonymous heads of broccoli, and an endless number of brand names recognized only by industry insiders.” — Paul Conley

Produce isn’t known for producing brand names, let alone overnight smash successes, which is why it’s interesting to see how quickly “Halos” has become known in households across the country. The mandarins (clementines and Murcotts) brand was only launched in 2013, and yet the next year sold nearly $400 million nationally according to Nielsen estimates. How is that possible? Well, the little-known answer is it helps that the brand was created from scratch to replace an existing hit product. It also helps that the company behind the product, Paramount Citrus, is part of a powerhouse brands portfolio that has been on a “roll” lately. (You’ll see what we mean shortly.)

The biggest enabler to Halos’ quick success is that only the brand name really came from scratch. Until mid-2013, Paramount Citrus was in a joint venture with Sun Pacific to produce the clementines brand Cuties. That partnership came to an end, at which Paramount Citrus set up a new venture with a different partner, Fowler Packing, under the new brand name “Halos”.

Additionally, Paramount Citrus has added the Wonderful tag in front, so the brand is officially Wonderful Halos. They can do this because Paramount Citrus is owned by Roll Global, the California-based private corporation that also owns POM Wonderful and Paramount Farms (makers of Wonderful Pistachios), among other trendy, outwardly health-oriented brands. This has allowed Paramount Citrus to flex some serious financial muscle — they are promoting Halos with an eye-popping $100 million advertising campaign over five years, reportedly “the most ever spent on a branding campaign for fresh produce”.

In that case, expect to see Halos remain a rare brand-name standout in the fresh products aisle of your grocery store!