Who else has noticed the current lime shortage in the U.S.? Bad harvest and Mexican cartels taking c

hennessy

hennessy

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I eat Pho about once a week and a few weeks ago I noticed that every Pho place I went they were giving me lemons instead of limes...WTF?

So I asked the restaurant owner last night what's going on and she says the price for a box of limes has tripled in the past few weeks and they can't afford to buy them any more.

Found this article online, apparently the Mexican cartels have been robbing lime growers and trying to control the supply.

How Mexico's Drug Cartels Are Driving Up the Price of Limes

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A lime shortage is threatening the U.S. food and beverage industry, with some bars and restaurants jacking up drink prices, charging extra for a slice—or refusing to serve the citrus at all. But there's another reason to rethink that margarita: The pricey limes you're buying from Mexico might be supporting drug violence.
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Bad winter weather and severe drought has obliterated many crops this year, but the lime is a victim of several special circumstances. Most limes consumed by the U.S are grown in Mexico, where a bacterial disease called huanglongbing (HLB) has already taken out a large number of trees. Then in December, cold and rain knocked blossoms off the trees, reducing the total number of fruits that matured.

Now, in the state of Michoácan, where most of Mexico's limes are grown, a kilogram of the citrus is worth more than a day's pay. Because limes have become so valuable, the trucks that transport them have become a target for drug cartels, which block the roads and hijack shipments, requiring money from the farmers to pass. Those extra costs are then passed along to consumers. This kind of agricultural extortion isn't limited to limes: Cartels can exert control over any type of valuable export. "Blood avocados" are also an issue in Michoácan, with the Knights Templar cartel terrorizing local farmers. And when the gangs get involved, farmers become too afraid to grow the crop, which reduces supply even more.

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The price of limes is about $100 per 40-pound box today, up from the usual price of around $25 a box this time of year. The cost has been devastating to not only American buyers, but also to Mexico's economy, which may have to import limes from outside its borders for the first time in history. And sadly, the issue is causing farmers to strip their trees prematurely simply to cash in on the high prices—which will only cause more problems down the line.

Here in the U.S., where a lime garnish is usually as ubiquitous as an ice cube, the shortage has forced bartenders to get creative. According to the cocktail site Alcademics, San Francisco's Tacolicious is offering a new version of their margarita that uses pasteurized lime and lemon juice, as well as a more expensive "Margarita del Cartel" with all fresh lime juice to pass along awareness of the issue. Other bars are using replacements like acid phosphate to mimic the sour flavors necessary for a proper gimlet.

Some suppliers are looking to buy fruit from Brazil, and we do grow a fair share of limes in California, although the crop doesn't come in until the summer. It's likely that prices will go down in the next few weeks, but still, this might be a good reason to switch to beer this Cinco de Mayo.
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http://gizmodo.com/how-mexicos-drug-cartels-are-driving-up-the-price-of-l-1555572876

So all the Pho restaurants where I'm at stopped using limes, Mexican restaurants are using substitutes, and this will probably make drinks with lime on Cinco de Mayo more expensive or you just won't get a lime with your Corona or XX. Never knew limes were so serious :lol:
 
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[COLOR=#red]Them cartels probably know the value of that paper money = nothing.. **** it, I'd triple the price too :smokin.. or you can use some Monsanto limes, your choice [/COLOR] :lol: :D
 
The article also mentions "blood avocados" :rofl: I mean it's not really funny, kinda serious, but I never would've thought the Mexican crime cartels would be involved in international fruit/vegetable trading.
 
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Haven't noticed a shortage but they are expensive lately. This explains it.
 
frshstunna said:
Aint worse than the Henny shortage in Baltimore right now tho :x :smh:
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That story is crazy too. More than half-a-million dollars worth of Hennessy stolen from a shipping yard in Baltimore County, MD. They got a freightliner truck and hooked it up to a trailer that had a cargo container on it with more than 2,000 cases of Hennessy worth $514,000. Found the container abandoned and empty later on :wow: :x Straight from The Wire.

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I'm waiting for that Henny to start showing up on craigslist in the area lol
 
jkitty said:
I'm waiting for that Henny to start showing up on craigslist in the area lol
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Chances are they aren't going to distribute it themselves and definitely not in that area. Too hot

They probably traded it for something more fungible, like drugs. Coke heron you name it
They got that and spread it out across the DMV
 
Hennessy said:
The article also mentions "blood avocados" :rofl: I mean it's not really funny, kinda serious, but I never would've thought the Mexican crime cartels would be involved in international fruit/vegetable trading.
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Shouldn't be that surprising. We saw what happened in Honduras and that was all because of bananas.
 
didnt they have a avocado shortage as well due to drought? chipotle was considering cutting back on guac
 
carne asada plate still got fat limes on deck in my neck of da woods, b.










blood..........avacados?
cue nas .gif
 
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jkitty said:
I'm waiting for that Henny to start showing up on craigslist in the area lol
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straight drought in the city right now, a weeknd with no Henny :x :lol: ...a dude up Lexington Market did try to sell me 2 shorty's of Ciroc for $6 earlier tho :lol:
 
Patrick Bateman said:
[COLOR=#red]Them cartels probably know the value of that paper money = nothing.. **** it, I'd triple the price too :smokin.. or you can use some Monsanto limes, your choice [/COLOR] :lol: :D
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Haha at Monsanto. Such an amazing yet unethical firm.
 
Patrick Bateman said:
[COLOR=#red]Them cartels probably know the value of that paper money = nothing.. **** it, I'd triple the price too :smokin.. or you can use some Monsanto limes, your choice [/COLOR] :lol: :D
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indeed.

Get tangible product that ain't drugs and bong... You got good solid money!

I was in class and my teacher said that its about 4 farmers in america that have the sugar game ON LOCK in the united states.

They have lobbied to have all kinds of tariffs for imported sugar to a point to where countries won't bother.

He said since sugar isn't as "popular" then it goes unnoticed but if you were to replicate their monopoly on sugar to another more visible and sexy industry, several laws would have been imposed already.
 
frshstunna said:
straight drought in the city right now, a weeknd with no Henny :x :lol: ...a dude up Lexington Market did try to sell me 2 shorty's of Ciroc for $6 earlier tho :lol:
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So are Bmore heads traveling around the DMV picking up bottles from other places than usual or what? If my local supply starts getting depleted :smh:
 
Actually as a kid I thought they were unripened lemons
 
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