Rob Cullum who works for Pacific Produce, a UK company which has been in the lime business for almost 17 years and supplies limes year round, said that at the moment they are having to take a hit to keep supplying at agreed prices.
"Although it is not the traditional time for Mexican imports we would usually get some in, but the US market is so strong that they are all going there and we are getting nothing from Mexico. The supply from Brazil has been reduced by both drought and rains at different moments, and growers obviously want to make money so prices are high. Total lime production fluctuates, lime is not like normal citrus – this is a key point to understand: most citrus orchards will be in production for many decades whereas lime trees need to be replaced every 10 years or so. This creates an opportunity for change every decade and many farmers have moved to sugar cane or other fast cash crops.
The lemon market is also strong and will see shortages, but according to Rob this can be managed to a certain extent as you can store lemons for a limited period, where as the lime market is always very up and down as you cannot store limes at all and they need to be cleared in one or two weeks.
"Shortages can happen very quickly with limes, people are even talking about airfreighting them in next week and I don't see a change in the situation any time soon. 2015 was a stable year for limes, but this year looks like a more normal up and down year. It is a situation where people can lose a lot of money very quickly, but having been in the lime business for so long we know how to take the hard moments, we supply our customers for 12 months without speculation and our growers know and understand this long term attitude."
"Mexico will start shipping in May but they will want a high price for their fruit, so there will not be any sudden reduction in price, it will happen more gradually," continues Rob. There are also other factors coming up this summer which will increase demand and stretch supply, the Euro 2016 football tournament will take place in France and the Olympics will take place in Brazil. Both of these events will increase demand for limes. Normally you can substitute the lime with a slice of lemon in drinks but lemons are also expensive......
"The danger is that the price can only go so high before people stop buying, if they stop buying then the price drops and anyone who bought a container of limes at the high price will suddenly find themselves in trouble."
For more information:
Robert Cullum
Pacific Produce
+44 (0) 1865877801
Email: rob@pacificproduce.co.uk
www.pacificproduce.co.uk