Why are clementines only sold in cartons? I like them, but damned if I can eat a whole BOX of the things. I asked the grocery-stocker and he said, “I dunno—that’s just the way we have to sell them.”
Is there some kind of Clementine Mafia preventing us from buying them individually?
Those little orange thingies?
http://www.darlingclem.com/merchandising___promotion.html
I’m guessing that it’s (a) because they’re imported by the boxful, and (b) it hasn’t yet occurred to your local grocery store man that folks might want to buy only one clementine. It’s just easier for him to sell them by the box than to have to fiddle around with selling them by the pound. Judging by the linked website, it’s only a matter of time anyway. The trend is just beginning, so once the pace picks up and the supply is assured, and they become more mainstream, I’d predict them to become available by the pound, like apples.
Every store I have seen—in NY, NJ and PA—sell them ONLY in cartons. And it’s the only fruit so sold. I am guessing that the Clementine Folks insist they be sold only boxed, but that must REALLY cut in on sales.
I can get them unboxed – at the end of the season. They remove the rotten ones from the boxes and sell the rest individually.
My guess is the crates are a gimmick to distinguish the delectable, succulent clementines from their evil cousins the tangerines. “If it’s in a crate, it must be good”
But I have noticed tangerines being sold in crates too. Obviously an attempt to get in on the whole clementine craze.
Here in the UK, they are available in nets (of about 20 fruit) or loose, this is the case for all citrus fruits, but then they are all imported here (we have no real domestic citrus production due to climate).
Personally I prefer a nice Satsuma (as long as it is slightly on the sour side; when they are out of season, they are insipid)
In my neck of the woods clementines are sold both in the crate and loose. The only difference I’ve discerned so far is that buying them in the crate is, per pound, cheaper than buying them individually.
I love clementines, but there is no way I’d ever eat a crate of 'em! 
Here you can see the red/orange colored netting that covers the wooden open tray. NOT THAT MY COMPANY DOES THIS, but if the nectarines are not the bright, friendly, delicious orange color they should be, this optical effect makes them look better.
How could you NOT eat a whole box? I get a box a week when they’re in season and I’m lucky if that last that long! Those things are so damned good…
For what it’s worth, Wegmans (the best store on earth) sells 'em separately.
Zette
My local groceries (in NYC) sell them in crates and separately. Of course, they both know that they’re catering to college students, not families who can eat lots of them at a time.
As is the case here in Michigan. The big grocery stores all have the little, wooden crates (which are kind of neat in their own right), but the little specialty stores (like the Mexican market) sell them by the net of about 20. Same price, and the little crates seem to have about the same number, although admittedly I’ve not counted 
.
What the hell is a Clementine???
I thought it had to do with the song “My Darling Clementine” because she wore crates for shoes
Got this from http://www.mudcat.org, as well as my memory of 3rd grade music class
Me too. I can eat a kilo per day when they are in season. I am sure I get enough vitamin C to last the rest of the year during the Clementine season.
In Sweden they are sold in boxes, nets or by the kilo.
/Coil - going to the store for some more …
Satsumas only seem to come in wax-lined boxes around here. So you must buy even more of the damn things than you’re forced to with clementines.
Jiminy Crickets! From today’s AP Newswire:
WASHINGTON (AP) - The government has banned the import of popular Spanish clementines after larvae of the Mediterranean fruit fly were found in some of the fruit. The small oranges, which are sold in small wooden boxes, also must be pulled from store shelves in 17 Southern and Western states where the winter would be warm enough for the insects to survive. A few clementines are imported from Israel, and the ban does not apply to them.
The Agriculture Department suspended indefinitely the import of Spanish clementines and banned their sale or distribution in Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas, California, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, Nevada, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Oregon, Puerto Rico, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas and Washington. Fruit in those areas must be destroyed or shipped to an approved location. “What we’re concentrating on right now is moving fruit out of the areas where the Medfly can do the most damage,” Rogers said.