Limes are having a moment as demand increases for the citrus fruit.
“Demand is extremely unique right now. Our foodservice account orders on limes have greatly diminished due to COVID-19. But the accounts that are active are active almost in double the capacity,” says Steven Leal with S&J Distributing in Edinburg, Texas. “Those are more the retail chains and wholesalers but not the foodservice accounts at all. It’s also location by location too. Parts such as Texas are strong while other parts are quiet as they wait it out.”
With so much of foodservice on hold in North America right now, limes are one of many perishable items getting a boost in popularity in the grocery store. “I wouldn’t have factored the lime to be one of the biggest movers but it is. With produce, there were concerns about handling produce in the beginning which is a valid concern. But what’s happened in the past two weeks in particular, it hasn’t affected it at all. Perishable products are being consumed. And with the foot traffic in the grocery store, it’s double the consumption,” says Leal.
At the same time, limes continue to arrive steadily from Mexico. “There’s not an abundance, there’s not a shortage, just a steady rate. Usually we don’t see this in March. Usually it’s a very chaotic time for lime supplies,” says Leal.
Sizing spreading out
As for sizing of limes, it is expanding somewhat. “We had noticed mostly big fruit—150 and 175 count. But we’re slowly seeing it start to even out in the manifests,” says Leal. “So equal amounts of 150s, 175s, 230s and such. Even though we’re not at across the board pricing yet, if it continues to move to 200 and 230, we’ll start seeing it a bit more. But right now the least expensive fruit is the big fruit and then the most expensive is in the middle—200, 230 and maybe 175.”
Prices are also climbing on limes. “The prices have moved up steadily for the past week, ever since the State of Emergency was declared on Friday. On average, a 110 is $18; 150 is about $20; 175 is about $22-$24 on average,” says Leal. “But that’s where it’s at right now. There’s decent flow so there’s potential for it to increase.”
For more information:
Steve Leal
S&J Distributing
Tel: +1-956-383-5325
steve@snjdistributing.com
www.snjdistributing.com