While there are plenty of smaller limes available from Mexico, water shortages and uneven harvesting earlier in the year have tightened the supply of larger fruit. As a result, there's a big gap between prices for small fruit and larger sizes.“Limes were expensive in April and May, so growers in Mexico were cutting all the fruit, even the smaller sizes,” said David Villareal with Ver-Mex Produce in McAllen, Texas. “That didn't allow the tree to give off big fruit.” Combined with less than expected rainfall in growing regions, that's led to there being lots of small fruit but limited supplies of big sizes.
Villareal has seen prices around $6.00 to $8.00 per carton for small fruit and between $12.00 and $16.00 for medium fruit, but prices for large sizes have been much higher.
“Except for large limes, there's just a lot of supply, so prices are going down,” said Villareal. “I think it will stay that way for the rest of the summer.”
For more information:
David Villareal
Ver-Mex Produce
+1 956 279 3677