Mail-Order Citrus: Pearson Ranch Delivers California Sunshine From Orchard to Doorstep

The family-owned business ships fresh-picked seasonal citrus, including rare specialty varieties, across the country

Bins of freshly picked navel oranges in Pearson Ranch's home orchard near Porterville, Calif. The family-owned business sells navels and pomelos grown on its own property, along with myriad other citrus varieties sourced from local farms. Courtesy of Pearson Ranch

The fruit in my hand is 6 months old, but tastier than ever.

It’s a pink pomelo from Pearson Ranch in California, and the big orb’s fabulously thick rind—an inch or more—is better at preserving the integrity and flavor of the fruit than anything human invention can muster. Most commodity fruits these days are picked and stored in vast chilled warehouses—apple repositories bigger than football fields exist all over eastern Washington, for example—but rarely citrus.