Orange Juice Prices May Rise Due to Disease and Weather Problems

(TheConservativeTimes.org) – Orange juice prices are one thing that consistently fluctuates based on the supply, demand, and overall health of the industry and production.

Currently, there are record-breaking prices for orange juice and these prices may be here to stay for a while due to disease and extreme weather that has been affecting areas where oranges are harvested. Brazil, the world’s largest exporter of orange juice, is expected to see the worst harvest in over thirty years due to flooding and drought.

Oscar Simonetti, who farms oranges in Mogi Guacu, Brazil, said, “The concern isn’t just that the price of juice is going up. The concern is not having the juice.”

In the United States, Florida’s orange production has already fallen over sixty percent after Hurricane Ian affected the crops. Because of these issues, orange juice has seen a rise in price so much so that a twelve-ounce can of orange juice concentrate costs over four dollars. This price is over forty percent higher than it was during the same time last year.

The orange juice market has seen a drop in consumption, falling twenty percent in global markets due to inflation, leading people to avoid the beverage because of the rising prices.

Jonna Parker works for Circana, a market research company, as a principal for fresh food client insights. She says that many people are choosing other beverages like smoothies and energy drinks instead of orange juice because of the prices. Parker said, “The price gets high and people consider other alternatives.”

Diseases such as citrus greening have also been affecting the production of oranges. Before 2004, or before the disease, production would be around two hundred million boxes of oranges but this year production will be down to twenty million boxes.

Some companies could make changes and take the beverage off their menus, such as McDonald’s in Australia which removed it late last year, stating that supply issues pushed them to make an alternative “orange fruit drink” which only had a little over thirty percent orange juice in it.