Clementine season in Norway: half the imports arrive in November and December – taste science and vitamin C
Norway imported 28,769 tonnes of clementines in 2025, and half arrived in November and December. Here is the sugar-to-acid rule that decides when the fruit is ripe, why the peel turns orange, how a clementine differs from a mandarin and how much vitamin C you get.
Clementine season in Norway runs through November and December, when the Spanish harvest reaches the shops. According to Statistics Norway, half of last year’s clementine imports – 14,411 of 28,769 tonnes – arrived in those two months. A clementine is a cross between a mandarin and an orange, and a 70-gram fruit provides about 26 mg of vitamin C.
- Imports in 2025: 28,769 tonnes of clementines worth NOK 582.5 million at import value (Statistics Norway, table 08801).
- The season: November and December 2025 accounted for 50 per cent of the year’s imports, and 94 per cent of those two months’ clementines were registered as coming from Spain.
- Per 100 grams: 40 kcal, 8.1 grams of naturally occurring sugars and 37 mg of vitamin C (the Norwegian Food Composition Table).
- EU ripeness rules: at least 40 per cent juice and a sugar-to-acid ratio of at least 7.0:1.
- On sale in Norway since: 1963, according to the encyclopaedia Store norske leksikon.
When is clementine season in Norway?
You can buy clementines all year, but where they come from changes with the seasons. Monthly import figures from Statistics Norway (table 08799, updated 15 October 2026) show Spain all but vanishing from the data between June and October. Those months belong to South Africa: in October 2025, 2,137 of the 2,530 tonnes imported came from there.
November is the turning point. Imports from Spain jumped from 171 tonnes in October 2025 to 5,419 tonnes in November, and a further 8,613 tonnes of clementines arrived in December. December alone made up 30 per cent of the year’s total. The pattern was almost identical in 2024, when November and December accounted for 49 per cent.
Just as with Halloween pumpkins, it is the commodity code in Norway’s trade statistics that reveals the season: clementines have had their own code, 08052290, since 2017.
Why do clementines taste better in November?
Flavour comes down to the balance between sugar and acid. The EU marketing standard for citrus fruit – Delegated Regulation (EU) 2023/2429, which applies to fruit grown and sold in the EU, including Spain – defines ripeness in numbers. A clementine needs at least 40 per cent juice and a sugar-to-acid ratio of at least 7.0:1 before it can be sold. For satsumas the thresholds are 33 per cent and 6.5:1.
Ripeness, in other words, is a calculation: sugar content divided by acidity. It is the same kind of everyday food science as the physicists’ cacio e pepe recipe.
Variety matters too. The Norwegian fruit and vegetable information office, Opplysningskontoret for frukt og grønt, says the varieties on sale in November and December are easy to peel. Clemenules is the main Christmas variety, alongside Marisol, Clemenvillas, Clemenpons and Oronules.
Why are some clementines green?
Colour is not a reliable guide to taste. Trials on the satsuma mandarin, a close relative, found the peel stayed green while temperatures hovered around 20°C. In the study by Mitalo and colleagues in Frontiers in Plant Science (2022), the colour change began only once the daily minimum dropped to 16°C or below. Green chlorophyll breaks down and orange carotenoids show through.
The EU standard also permits “degreening” – a treatment that removes the green colour – but only when the fruit already meets the ripeness requirements and its taste is unchanged.
What is the difference between a clementine and a mandarin?
A clementine is a round orange citrus fruit, slightly flattened at the ends, usually seedless and thin-skinned. Store norske leksikon (updated 11 August 2026) says genetic analyses suggest it is a cross between a mandarin and an orange. The mandarin, by contrast, is one of the four ancestral species from which all citrus fruit descends.
The name honours Clément Rodier, a French missionary in Algeria, and the fruit reached the Norwegian market in 1963. By around 1990 it had largely replaced the mandarin. The trade figures make the point: Norway imported just 985 tonnes of mandarins in 2025, against almost 29,000 tonnes of clementines.
How much vitamin C and how many calories are in a clementine?
According to the Norwegian Food Composition Table, 100 grams of raw clementine contain 37 mg of vitamin C – 35 per cent of the recommended daily intake for adults. The same portion provides 40 kcal, 8.1 grams of sugars (none added), 1.0 gram of fibre and 154 mg of potassium.
The table counts one clementine as 70 grams. That works out at roughly 26 mg of vitamin C and 28 kcal per fruit, so about four clementines cover a day’s needs. An orange, for comparison, has 54 mg of vitamin C per 100 grams. Levels vary with variety and ripeness.
Vitamin C should not be confused with vitamin D, which most people in Norway need as a supplement in winter. The Norwegian Directorate of Health’s dietary advice is that fruit, berries or vegetables should be part of every meal.
How many clementines does Norway import each year?
Norway imported 28,769 tonnes of clementines in 2025, worth NOK 582.5 million, according to Statistics Norway table 08801. That was 14 per cent more than in 2024 and the highest since 2021. With 5,594,340 inhabitants, it equates to about 5 kilos per person – though that is imports, not measured consumption, and waste is not deducted.
Spain supplied 66 per cent of the volume in 2025, South Africa 21 per cent, Morocco 9 per cent and Peru 2.5 per cent. Value has risen faster than volume: from NOK 412.8 million in 2017 to NOK 582.5 million in 2025, while tonnage fell by 8 per cent. Last year’s import value was NOK 20.2 per kilo – the customs value at the border, not the shelf price.
What happens next this season?
As of September 2026, imports were running 4 per cent below last year: 11,335 tonnes against 11,828 tonnes for January to September. Statistics Norway has not yet published October or November figures, so it is too early to say how big this season will be.
Together with the Christmas beers that reached Vinmonopolet on 4 November, the clementine is one of the surest signs that December is on its way in Norway.
How do you choose and store clementines?
Opplysningskontoret for frukt og grønt says good clementines should be whole, juicy, well shaped and even in size, with no cuts or damage to the peel. Pick fruit that feels heavy for its size and has no soft spots. The recommended storage temperature is 0–2°C, so the fridge beats the fruit bowl if they need to keep for a while.
Frequently asked questions
When is clementine season in Norway?
The main season is November and December, when Spanish clementines dominate. Statistics Norway figures show half of 2025’s imports arrived in those two months.
What is the difference between a clementine and a mandarin?
According to Store norske leksikon, the clementine is a cross between a mandarin and an orange. The mandarin is one of the original citrus species.
How much vitamin C is in a clementine?
The Norwegian Food Composition Table lists 37 mg per 100 grams. A 70-gram clementine provides about 26 mg, roughly a quarter of the daily requirement.
How many calories are in a clementine?
About 28 kcal for a 70-gram fruit, or 40 kcal per 100 grams, according to the Norwegian Food Composition Table.
Why do some clementines have pips?
Clementines are usually seedless. According to Opplysningskontoret for frukt og grønt, pips can mean the fruit is a hybrid or that the tree was pollinated by a nearby lemon tree.
