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A global shortage of oranges has caused prices to soar, with some orange juice To make it a breakfast staple, manufacturers are urging people to consider switching to alternative fruits.
Global prices for oranges reached $3.68 per pound in April, up about 33% from $2.76 a year ago, according to data from the International Monetary Fund. That’s also a staggering 210% increase since January 2021. Inflation Crisis Began.
“There are three main factors that are causing the price of orange juice to rise: drought, disease and demand,” Ted Jenkin, CEO and co-founder of Oxygen Financial, told FOX Business.
Inflation rises to 3.4% in April as prices remain high
Navel oranges are displayed for sale in the fresh produce section at Sprouts Farmers Market grocery store in Redondo Beach, California on February 23, 2024. (Patrick T. Fallon/AFP via Getty Images/Getty Images)
The surge was due to lower production in Florida, the main U.S. producing state, as well as disease and extreme weather in Brazil, which accounts for about 10 percent of the total. 70% of world production.
Orange trees in Brazil are suffering from a disease called citrus greening. When infected, citrus trees produce fruit that is partly green and small, misshapen and bitter. There is no cure, and within a few years of infection the tree dies.
The disease, combined with extreme heat and drought during the crucial period of flowering and fruit formation, means Brazil is on track to record its worst orange crop in more than 30 years, according to a new report from Brazil’s orange growers association. Fundecitrus and CitrusBR.
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In fact, citrus growers’ association predicts that the South American country will produce 232.4 million boxes of oranges in the 2024-2025 season, a significant 25% decrease compared to the previous cycle.
A worker loads oranges onto a truck in Itupeva, Sao Paulo state, Brazil on August 3, 2021. (Patricia Monteiro/Bloomberg via Getty Images/Getty Images)
“If this production projection proves correct, it would be the second smallest harvest since 1988-1989,” the report said.
On top of that, Florida has been hit by a series of hurricanes and the greening disease, which is spread by a tiny insect called the Asian citrus psyllid.
“This is a crisis,” Keith Kuhls, president of the International Fruit and Vegetable Juice Association (IFU), told the Financial Times. “We’ve never seen anything like this, even during a freeze or a major hurricane.”
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As a result, orange juice prices are soaring: The price of a 12-ounce can of frozen orange juice concentrate soared to $4.25 in April, up 41% from just a year ago.
According to the Financial Times, orange juice makers have been able to avoid long-term shortages in the past by freezing their stocks of juice, which can be stored and used for up to two years. But with three years of accumulated shortages, even those frozen stocks are disappearing.
Cools said manufacturers may have to consider using another fruit, such as mandarin oranges, because mandarin trees are more resistant to greening disease, but that could be a long process.
