While there continues to be a lot of small sizes on limes from Mexico, this could change in the near future. "In the next two weeks, there will be the small sizes. However, we've started getting some rain," says Antonio Espinosa, president of Fresco Produce LLC. "The quality that we will be receiving will depend on those rains."
Rains are more than welcome following drought over the past two years in the lime growing regions, which in turn has affected both the size and the quality of fruit.
This year, drought was once again expected. Espinosa says that the rains that did come down weren't necessarily rain related to Hurricane Erick that passed over Mexico last week. "The production area for limes is in the Gulf of Mexico, but the hurricane that we got was from the Pacific region. We have some production there, but the majority of volume is from Veracruz and Tabasco," he says.
As for demand, growers and shippers are waiting for it to strengthen on limes. After all, the prices are low, and this weather is the perfect weather to consume lime-related products such as lime drinks, he says.
© Fresco Produce
Unusual May for limes
This all follows an interesting May in which prices took longer to drop. Generally, it's expected that pricing will come down at the beginning of May, but this year, it happened at the end of the month. Espinosa says general consumer uncertainty could also factor into softer demand right now, and also some softer consumption of limes in the Latin American population generally.
Not only is there consumer uncertainty, but there is also uncertainty in business, given the state of current events. "We have to consider those uncertainties and make adjustments, but it's causing doubt every week about what will happen that week–in terms of labor, politics, laws, and more," says Espinosa. "We can't plan like we did before for the long term. We have to be more cautious now."
Meanwhile, on pricing, he believes it might stay on the low end until the end of July or the beginning of August. "Again, it depends on that rain," he says, adding that the last two years, there has been a price increase on limes from August to September because of heat in Mexico and its effect on the crop in terms of quality and shortening shelf life. "We focus mainly on the retail market, so we need to ensure that the quality of limes stays at least eight to 10 days," Espinosa says.
For more information:
Antonio Espinosa
Fresco Produce LLC.
Tel: +1 (956) 720-0917 ext. 2
[email protected]
http://fresco-produce.com/home.html
