Central Valley growers say one-fifth of the mandarin crop has been lost because of the cold. 10 percent of navel oranges were also damaged. Luckily, none of the ill effects of the freeze has shown up yet at the grocery store.
"We cut the shipper's oranges this morning and found no dry cells. The oranges are great. The volume is all that we want. The price has not changed," said grocer Pete Carcione.
Prices may still go up in the future because citrus growers say they spent about $100 million to set up wind machines in their orchards to protect the trees from the frost.
