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The Lime Shortage

EZEtoGRU

By EZEtoGRU
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EZEtoGRU Grand Master

EZEtoGRU

Posted
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Limes are in short supply.....at least in Texas. A few of my local haunts no longer have limes. A few others do. United Airlines no longer offers limes with cocktails.

 

It seems there is a global shortage. What's happening where you live?

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nate_sf Mentor

nate_sf

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They had a piece on this on NPR a while back:

 

http://www.npr.org/blogs/thesalt/2014/03/26/294413761/in-mexico-and-u-s-lime-lovers-feel-squeezed-by-high-prices

 

The summary:

 

In Mexico And U.S., Lime Lovers Feel Squeezed By High Prices

 

Has the price of your margarita cocktail shot up? Guacamole more expensive? Blame it on limes.

 

About 98 percent of limes consumed in the U.S. come from Mexico. But our neighbors to the south are feeling seriously squeezed by a shortage of the beloved citrus fruit.

At a Mexico City outdoor market, vendor Alberto Reyes Stanislao tries to entice passersby to buy his limes with sweet talk and coaxing. But with limes going for 50 pesos a kilo — about $1.75 a pound, or three times the normal price — his sales have plummeted 50 percent. And he says he's getting an earful from customers.

 

"They say I'm selling green gold. One customer told me that instead of eating the limes, she was going to wear them as a necklace," says Reyes.

 

In the U.S., grocery stores are now charging an average of 53 cents for a single lime, compared to 21 cents per fruit at this time last year, according to the from the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

 

A combination of factors has affected Mexican production. Heavy rains late last year in the states of Michoacan, Guerrero and Veracruz hurt the crop. And in Colima, a big lime-producing state, a bacterium is infecting trees.

 

With supply tight at home, exports across the border are getting more and more expensive.

 

"This year, we are in unchartered waters with limes, says Raul Millan of New Jersey-based Vision Import Group. "I've never seen limes at these prices."

 

Millan says he can still recall a time when a 40-pound box of the so-called Mexican Persian variety went for as little as $4. This week, he paid 25 times that much.

"I'm surprised that demand is still there, even at $100 a box," he says.

 

With prices that high, Millan says organized crime thieves in Mexico are stealing truckloads of limes. He says his producers in Veracruz have had to hire armed security guards for the trip to the border.

 

In Mexico, authorities say lime production should pick up in the coming months, as yields go up with the arrival of spring, and prices will hopefully fall back down.

 

That's good news to Ruben Jacobo, who's grilling up rib eye, carne asada and chicken at his street taco stand. He says a taco without a squeeze of lime on it is just not a taco. And the high prices are cutting into his already small profit margin.

 

"Unfortunately," Jacobo tells me, "it seems the more expensive something is, the more people want it."

 

Last week, he caught a woman emptying his complimentary plate of lime wedges straight into her bag.

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Phil_musc Mentor

Phil_musc

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Yes, I heard that NPR piece too. I'm wringing my hands in despair at this point. What are we to do? We're moving into prime G&T season and because of this despicable shortage (probably engineered by the government or some other nefarious interest group) I'm at a complete and utter loss at what to do. If things don't improve soon, I'll be forced to bite the bullet and drink seven-up with my gin - it will put me back in touch with my trailer-park beginnings.

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Socalguy Community Regular

+ Socalguy

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Yes, I heard that NPR piece too. I'm wringing my hands in despair at this point. What are we to do? We're moving into prime G&T season and because of this despicable shortage (probably engineered by the government or some other nefarious interest group) I'm at a complete and utter loss at what to do. If things don't improve soon, I'll be forced to bite the bullet and drink seven-up with my gin - it will put me back in touch with my trailer-park beginnings.

LOL! never forget your trailer-park beginnings, they can serve you well :)

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seaboy4hire Mentor

seaboy4hire

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Vietnamese pho restaurants are starting to switch to lemons for the soup rather than limes. At the day job I get to make fresh guac and the quality of the limes is sucking rotten ass! They are often very light and almost dry, almost no juice :( I am hoping that the quality and quantity gets back up there cause I am wanting to make a mojito ice cream for a get together a friend is having this summer. But I am sure I can whip up something refreshing and citrusy for a summer treat ice cream wise.

 

Hugs,

Greg

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Diverdan Community Regular

Diverdan

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I was just on a First Class flight from Chicago to San Diego. I ordered my usual rum and coke zero with a lime. The flight attendant told me that UA had stopped buying limes for drinks as a "cost saving measure". When I was asked to complete a survey on that flight, I RIPPED UA TO SHREDS about this. They can fly limes in from Thailand and numerous other countries on their Internationl Flights with very little difference in cost. This is just one more way that UA is no longer the Friendly Skies. Once I hit my 2 Million mile level on UA later this year, I am switching airlines, although most of the other domestic airlines are not much better. This is a very sad state of affairs. While the cost of limes has gone up a bit in Chicago they are still quite available, and the cost has not gone up very much.

 

I am sorry for the farmers in Mexico, but hope that spring will bring the new crops back. Sometimes it seems to be either feast or famine for some crops.

DD

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Axiom2001 Grand Master

+ Axiom2001

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I haven't noticed a shortage in Southern California. Then again, I typically buy a couple, maybe three, limes per month for my Perrier.

 

I'm on the coast of Northern California, and I have NOT noticed any shortage either. On Saturday I was in one of our Safeway stores, and limes seemed to be a plenty! Apparently, a noticeable shortage is occurring in other parts of our nation!!

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MrMiniver Community Regular

MrMiniver

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Limes are in short supply.....at least in Texas. A few of my local haunts no longer have limes. A few others do. United Airlines no longer offers limes with cocktails.

 

It seems there is a global shortage. What's happening where you live?

 

I was making both guacamole and margaritas this past weekend and went to several local markets and they were the oddest looking limes I've ever seen. Teeny tiny like withered old testicles, with almost no juice :)

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MrMiniver Community Regular

MrMiniver

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I was just on a First Class flight from Chicago to San Diego. I ordered my usual rum and coke zero with a lime. The flight attendant told me that UA had stopped buying limes for drinks as a "cost saving measure". When I was asked to complete a survey on that flight, I RIPPED UA TO SHREDS about this. They can fly limes in from Thailand and numerous other countries on their Internationl Flights with very little difference in cost. This is just one more way that UA is no longer the Friendly Skies. Once I hit my 2 Million mile level on UA later this year, I am switching airlines, although most of the other domestic airlines are not much better. This is a very sad state of affairs. While the cost of limes has gone up a bit in Chicago they are still quite available, and the cost has not gone up very much.

 

I am sorry for the farmers in Mexico, but hope that spring will bring the new crops back. Sometimes it seems to be either feast or famine for some crops.

DD

 

Rum and coke? You give away your age ... :)

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EZEtoGRU Grand Master

EZEtoGRU

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I was just on a First Class flight from Chicago to San Diego. I ordered my usual rum and coke zero with a lime. The flight attendant told me that UA had stopped buying limes for drinks as a "cost saving measure". When I was asked to complete a survey on that flight, I RIPPED UA TO SHREDS about this.

DD

I was on AA/DL/UA in last week. I can confirm UA still has no limes on board. DL definitely does have limes on the plane and in the clubs. AA? I'm not sure. I was on early morning flights and I was not drinking.

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