Your orange juice may taste wildly different as prices for the fruit skyrocket

A global shortage of oranges has caused prices to skyrocket – and it means your morning orange juice could taste different later this year.

Orange juice manufacturers are considering blending the juice of other fruits, such as pear, apple and grape, to reduce costs.

This week it emerged that the harvest is expected to be 24 percent lower than last year, and on course to be the worst since the late 1980s.

News of that increased the price of orange juice concentrate that food companies buy to make drinks. It hit a record high of $4.95 per pound – twice what it was a year ago.

Tropicana is the largest juice company in the US. A 52 fluid ounce bottle costs $4.29 at Target, about 30 cents more than earlier this year.

Harry Campbell, commodity market data analyst at research group Mintec, says rising orange juice prices have forced manufacturers to consider alternative fruit.

Harry Campbell said rising orange juice prices have forced orange juice manufacturers to consider alternative fruit juices

“A lot of them will change the amounts of juice they put in their blends to drop the orange juice and increase other juices, like pear juice, apple juice and grape juice, so they’re less dependent on the orange juice,” Campbell told me. CNBC by phone.

The price spike is largely due to declining production in Florida, the top U.S. producer, and disease and extreme weather in Brazil, which accounts for about 70 percent of global production.

Brazilian orange trees have also been hit hard by citrus greening, a disease that causes the fruits to be partially green, small, misshapen and bitter. Brazil is on track for its worst orange harvest since 1988-1989

“There are three main factors driving the rising price of orange juice: drought, disease and demand,” said Ted Jenkin, CEO and co-founder of oXYGen Financial. FOX business.

In addition, Florida has been devastated by hurricanes and greening disease.

“This is a crisis,” says Kees Cools, chairman of the International Fruit and Vegetable Juice Association (IFU). Financial times.

“We’ve never seen anything like this, even during the big freezes and major hurricanes.”

Brazilian orange trees have also been hit hard by citrus greening, a disease that causes the fruits to be partially green, small, misshapen and bitter. This is a farm in Sao Paulo

In the past, orange juice producers have been able to avoid long-term shortages by freezing juice supplies, which can be stored for up to two years.

Frozen orange juice – which is good for two years – was used in the past when there were shortages.

But this frozen stock is almost gone, after three years of declining supply left much of it already used up.

Cools also said juice makers may have to switch to different fruits.

Mandarin would be an option, because the trees are less susceptible to green disease. But the transition can take some time.