Canadian Mexican restaurants pressured by soaring lime prices

Have you noticed an increase in the cost of limes?

The average consumer may not be at the grocery store but many restaurants have in recent times, as the cost of citrus fruits skyrockets.

Mexico is the world’s largest producer of limes and according to one report, the cost for a case has almost doubled in the last year.

So what’s behind the increase? Sylvain Charlebois, director of the Agri-Food Analytics Lab at Dalhousie University, says the lime industry is unpredictable.

“We’re not sure. The lime industry in general, especially outside of the US is influenced by some shady activity. And prices are heavily unpredictable. In the USA where I am right now, prices have not gone up really. So I suspect groups would target different markets and increase prices,” said Charlebois.

“Right now a lot of blame is thrown at the supply chain, COVID-19, Ukraine. So there is this momentum toward higher prices affecting the entire grocery store. Some increases are absolutely justified while others are absolutely questionable,” said Charlebois.

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There are many factors behind the uptick in price including cold weather, flooding, cartel problems, and supply chain issues, according to Charlebois.

“Lime is one of those products that really most people don’t necessarily track all that well. So an increase may come without being reported at all,” he said.

Charlebois said lime isn’t a common staple that consumers buy on their typical grocery run.

“It’s not something you buy every day. And so people may not even know how much they should be paying for a lime, unlike products you buy every day like bread, different produce [including] tomatoes, cucumber, and lettuce. Those are very popular items which represent 70 per cent of the volume,” said Charlebois.

He says the biggest impacts would be felt mostly by restaurants that order the fruit in large quantities and on a regular basis.

He warns margaritas could soon cost you a little more if price increases continue and get passed on to consumers.

“People can live without margaritas. They can go and have a beer and other products and those products are not necessarily more expensive,” said Charlebois.