The sharp decrease in the demand for lemons in restaurants and casinos has impacted the price of this citrus in Chile, which fell by 18.7% in the month of June, stated the president of Chile's Citrus Committee, Juan Enrique Ortuzar. In fact, lemon was the product that had the biggest fall among the entire basket of the National Statistics Institute (INE) during the past month, pushing the country's Price Index (IPC) to its second consecutive fall.
“This is also happening to us in the export market. The foodservice sector is very depressed because all the restaurants and food places are closed," Ortuzar stated.
“It's possible that consumption has also been compromised by the confinement. There might be more consumption in households, but it does not make up for the loss of that sector," he added.
It should be noted that the country has exported about 30% of its citrus to date, which is equivalent to 115,000 tons. Of that number, 31,000 tons correspond to lemons.
Another citrus fruit that has also registered a significant drop was the orange, which fell by 12.2%. However, according to Ortuzar, orange consumption has remained stable.
Source: adnradio.cl
