The supply of limes is steady right now and could increase next month. "In October and likely November, we're going to have a high supply of limes," says D Produce Company's Diego Morales, adding that quality on the limes is good.
© D Produce Co.
The strong lime supply has been challenging but the softer demand for limes has also been difficult. "We're hoping that demand picks up more–there's just been too much product," he says. "Programs and contracts are running well but the spot market has been dead for the last couple of weeks."
Given the low pricing, supply from other lime-shipping countries such as Colombia, Guatemala, Honduras and the Dominican Republic are also low.
Lime pricing ahead
All of this is leaving once steady pricing softening in recent weeks, though it's believed that pricing has already reached the lowest it can go and will only go up from here. "September was better on pricing last year but October and November were rough. Overall on the price of limes, the average over the past three to four years has been decreasing slowly and the volume is growing and it's growing fast," says Morales.
© D Produce Co.
Looking ahead in the next few years, he does anticipate the market to right itself and achieve steady pricing with fewer highs and ultra low pricing. "That's what we're hoping for because the supply is growing a lot and we want demand to catch up," says Morales.
With that in mind, the National Lime Board is being formed to unify the industry, as has been done in other commodities such as the National Mango Board. The NLB is supported via the Texas International Produce Association. "There are 45,000 loads of limes a year so it's a big commodity now," says Morales. "We want to have more lime information for everybody but also to help create more demand. We don't want to just rely on organic demand growth. We haven't reached our potential. They're still very popular with ethnic groups such as Hispanics and Asians mostly, but with other populations there's still a lot of work to do around knowing the product and what to do with it."
For more information:
Diego Morales
D Produce Company
Tel: +1 (786) 796-0232
[email protected]
https://www.dproduceco.com/