Southern Gardens Citrus Plant

The Southern Gardens Citrus plant was built to make orange juice. The $100 million facility opened in 1994, by a subsidiary of U.S. Sugar, which had converted much of its old cattle land to citrus production (orange juice, of course, is also loaded with sugar). The plant expanded over the years, and peaked with a production capacity of 180 million gallons of juice annually. Like many other major orange juice plants in Florida, it has ceased operation. It closed in 2019, due to a blight on orange groves, and competition for fruit and juice from Brazil and Mexico.