What CEOs Are Saying: Citrus, Superfoods, and Burgers
Checking in with Lemoneira, Laird Superfood, and Good Times
This week, we take a look at a cross section of food growers and sellers in the US: a citrus grower, a superfoods-producer, and a burger chain. These are volatile and trying times in the industry, forcing each of these three companies to think hard about their fundamental strategies. In some cases, that requires rethinking where the value is entirely: the citrus-grower Limoniera, for example, clearly sees its future in real-estate developments and monetizing its water rights.
Let’s take a closer look.
Limoneira Company (LMNR) - Q4 2025 Earnings Call
Limoneira posted a net loss of $0.49 per share in Q4 versus $0.11 last year, with full-year revenue declining from $191.5 million to $159.7 million. The California citrus and avocado grower is deliberately exiting lower-margin operations to reposition around what CEO Harold Edwards called “multiple profit centers.”
Some interesting tidbits from the call:
1. Sunkist partnership cuts costs by 60%. The company rejoined the Sunkist marketing cooperative after years operating independently. It was a move that created immediate savings. Said Edwards:
We were spending all in, including all the administrative support and efforts that went behind the sales and marketing function, about $1.50 a carton for that sales and marketing effort. And by returning to Sunkist now, that is now fixed at $0.60 a carton.
Applied across 4 to 4.5 million cartons annually, that delivers $10 million in fiscal 2026 savings.
2. Water rights could generate $50-70 million.
