The supply of limes right now looks fairly similar to last year. “The concentration on small fruit is higher than last year and the large fruit is lower than last year,” says Alex Teague of World Groves.
Right now, supply is coming out of Mexico but Colombia and Peru are also shipping fruit. “Mexico is at its seasonal high point from an availability point of view. It looks like it’ll remain that way the next 45-60 days and then we’ll see a transition,” says Teague.
The medium and large sizes tend to have less volume from all three growing areas. “From a quality point of view, it’s typical summer quality where there’s some rain-induced damage to the fruit but for the most part, it’s pretty good with good condition and good color.”
Summer pick up in demand ahead
Meanwhile demand has also been really good and very consistent. “Like lemons, it’s almost like clockwork. The deviation doesn’t move on a week-to-week basis much more than half a percent. We’ve had extremely consistent demand as we would expect and the foodservice continues to pull very well. We’re looking for the summer pick-up as more and more resorts open up. We expect that to be strong through September,” says Teague.
This means pricing is also anticipated to stay consistent for at least the next 45 days. Right now, pricing is a little better on sizes such as 110s and 150s. “By late July, you’ll start to see the large fruit supply drop away and pricing will probably start firming up. Pricing is similar to a bit below last year and on the smaller fruit, it’s below,” says Teague. “We’re also expecting the fall programs to fall back in line with the supply, be much more balanced with demand and we should see some strengthening in the markets by August-September.”
For more information:
Alex Teague
World Groves
alex.teague@worldgroves.com
www.worldgroves.com