Pricing is unpredictable—that’s how Steven Leal of Edinburgh, TX-based S & J Distributing describes the cost of limes right now. “Currently, it’s a wide range of pricing on limes--and it’s wider than normal,” he says. “So for a 110 count lime, prices are $10-$16. 150 count is $12-$18. 175 count is priced from $14-$20. 200 & 230ct pricing is anywhere from $16-$22. And 250 count is $12-$18.”
In turn that makes for a volatile market. “I think the reason is because some people can’t get the business on the high end. There are only certain customers that will take on the high end and there’s a lot of local buying as well going on down here,” Leal says. “And those high end price points might not be reflecting in the rest of the United States but it’s reflecting in South Texas.”
Low Supply
Also factoring into the lime pricing right now is the limited supply of the tangy green fruit. “Supply last week and this week is less than was expected,” he says. “It’s not an outright shortage, but when we factor in the historical and expected demand around Christmas and New Year’s, combined with the slight decrease in supplies it creates a strong market. Historically it happens every year.”
Quality is up
In addition, Leal says he’s seeing better quality fruit coming in. “It’s better because there’s less heat overall and less heat damage on the fruit,” he says. “And not so much rain and that means you don’t have those stylar ends or brown ends on the limes. Also, the fruit isn’t as heat shaded or blanched.”
Also getting a bump is the current size of fruit. “The fruit is larger so most of the people receiving fruit right now are receiving larger sizes—110s, 150, 175,” he says. “People that are looking for 200s, 230s they’re kind of scrambling for a little bit and they’ll probably be scrambling for another month.”
Steven Leal
S & J Distributing
Tel: +1 956 383 5325
steve@snjdistributing.com
http://www.snjdistributing.com/