Deserving Honor for Longtime Stars of the Florida Citrus Industry
September 11, 2023 Florida citrus packers honored a pair of fruit producers who face Florida’s most challenging production era with invention, integration and a positive outlook. Michel and Veronique Sallin were celebrated with the organization’s highest recognition, the John T. Lesley Award, during the 62nd Annual Packinghouse Day at the UF/IFAS Citrus Research and Education Center in Lake Alfred, FL.
The John T. Lesley Award is “reserved for individuals making sustained and outstanding contributions to Florida’s fresh citrus industry.”
Michel and Veronique Sallin immigrated 40 years ago to the U.S. from their native France to produce the world’s premier fresh grapefruit in the Indian River District, a narrow coastal margin from Brevard County to northern Palm Beach County.
Mark Ritenour, a UF/IFAS Horticulture Professor and postharvest technology expert, says the Sallins are distinguished entrepreneurs, economists, and global marketers. The married couple and Co-CEOs for IMG Citrus, one of Florida’s most successful agricultural operations, are among the influential thought leaders who guide the state’s fresh citrus production industry to new ways of thinking.
“Michel and Veronique Sallin set an example of grit to continue the work they enjoy,” Ritenour says. “The Sallins lead by example with adaptive business models, crop diversity and the persevering attitudes they espouse.”
At a recent packers’ meeting, Ritenour noted a shift away from the members’ melancholy spirits associated with citrus greening.
“An upbeat, positive outlook about our industry was present among members during our last meeting,” Ritenour said. “The spirit among members aligned with the Sallins’ beliefs that our industry will find a way to regain profitability in the industry we cherish.”
A rousing presentation by Chuck Allison, a well-known citrus producer, rolled out the Sallins’ lifetime achievements in fruit production and marketing. Michel Sallin grew up on a French apple farm, and Veronique Sallin was a city girl whose early interests were in collaborations. Michel Sallin studied finance, Veronique, marketing.
Combining their long-standing interests in finance and marketing, the Sallins met after graduating from HEC Paris, one of Europe’s top three business schools. The couple shared their interests on adventures in agriculture in South Africa, London, New York and California, and then made roots in Vero Beach, Florida.
So began a grapefruit production operation that increased from fruit processing to vertical integration for production, packing and intercontinental marketing. The enterprise, IMG Citrus, Inc., became a model for product diversification. When their Groveland citrus grove froze, the couple diversified into tree farming and property landscape management and rose to become one of Florida’s largest tree suppliers,
Cherrylake Inc. Today, IMG operates more than 11,000 acres of citrus groves, a technologically advanced packinghouse and what many believe is the most advanced marketing strategy among Florida producers. Recently, Michel and Veronique retired, handing their successful businesses to their three children, who will continue a family tradition to advance their businesses and share their successes with colleagues.
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