Beverage giant, The Coca-Cola Company is collaborating with MIT (Massachusetts Institute of Technology) to combat citrus greening, a disease that has decreased Florida’s orange harvest by 30% and cut US orange production by more than half since 2015. The project, Save the Orange is the pilot programme of Coca-Cola and MIT partnership aimed at tackling global challenges. Coca-Cola, the manufacturer of Minute Maid Pulp Orange, is a founding member of MIT Generative AI Impact Consortium, which seeks to harness the power of AI to address real world problems and benefit society through innovative collaborations.
We’re thrilled to have the support of Coca‑Cola as a founding member of the Consortium. Their global reach and insights will be critical in helping us identify pressing challenges, pulling together the right partners and resources, and putting plans into action to solve problems.
The Save the Orange initiative was developed in collaboration with Coca-Cola, Fundecitrus, a group of Brazilian citrus growers and juice producers, and Invaio Sciences. The MIT Generative AI Impact Consortium brings experts from agritech, computer science and life sciences, including OpenAI, Analog Devices, Tata Group, TWG Global and SK Telecom. The collaboration aims to bring forwards AI research and real world expertise to generate open source solutions to some of the world’s biggest, most complex challenges, starting with oranges.
Coca-Cola’s Collaborative Effort Against Citrus Greening
Citrus greening, also known as Huanglongbing(HLB), is a devastating bacterial disease that attacks citrus trees, ultimately causing the tree to decline and die. The disease first emerged in Florida in 2004 infecting most of the state’s orange trees and causing billions of dollars in losses to the global citrus industry. Coca Cola stated that currently there is no cure for the disease and without management and treatment, the global orange supply could vanish in the next 25 years. As per USDA, US only produced 2.2 million tons of oranges in 2025, down from 5.5 million in 2015.
In California, the disease has been detected in residential areas, threatening state’s $7 billion citrus industry. The California Department of Food and Agriculture (CDFA) has been actively working to prevent its spread to commercial groves.
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In January, US Department of Agriculture Foreign Agricultural Service’s (USDA FAS) annual report on Brazilian citrus stated the average incidence of greening among orange trees was 44.35%, or approximately 90.36 million trees. The average incidence rate is 16.5% higher than in 2023, when it was estimated at 38.06%.
Antonio Juliano Ayres, Executive Director of Fundecitrus, highlighted that citrus greening is one of the greatest threats to global citrus production, emphasizing the urgent need for collaborative action to solve the problem. He also noted that through the Save the Orange partnership with The Coca-Cola Company, Fundecitrus is reaffirming its commitment to science driven solutions, transparency, and innovation.
As a leading provider of fruit juice worldwide, we have a unique perspective on the critical issue of citrus greening. In these challenging times, we stand with the orange farming community and are closely collaborating with Brazil-based research lab Fundecitrus to find a viable solution.
Amy O’Shea, CEO of Invaio Sciences, stated that the company remains unwavering in its commitment to develop effective solutions for citrus growers in the fight against HLB. She highlighted the proven efficacy of Invaio’s Trecise treatment in mitigating the disease and explained that treatments and application technologies will play a critical role in a multi pronged, coordinated effort to restore tree health, citrus production, and farmer profitability.
Coca-Cola will use generative AI for data simulation to hasten research timelines, which can take from months to years. Pratik Thakar, the global vice president and head of generative AI at The Coca‑Cola Company, stated that the company is deploying cutting edge generative AI in the service of humanity and tackling globally critical problems. He said that Citrus greening has impacted farmers for over 15 years; now it’s high time to combine generative AI with AgriTech, Biotech, and Life Science to accelerate research and innovation. He further added that complex issues demand a unique level of partnership and collaboration to slow down the spread of HLB, and ultimately find a long term solution.