A global shortage of oranges that sent prices soaring has prompted some orange juice manufacturers to consider turning to alternative fruits to make the breakfast staple.

“There are three main factors driving the soaring price of orange juice, and it’s drought, disease and demand,” Ted Jenkin, oXYGen Financial CEO and co-founder, told FOX Business.

The spike stems from declining output in Florida, which is the primary U.S. producer, and disease and extreme weather events in Brazil, which accounts for about 70% of global production.

Orange trees in Brazil have been suffering from a disease known as citrus greening. Once infected, citrus trees produce fruits that are partially green, small, misshapen and bitter. There is no cure, and trees typically die within a few years of infection.

The disease, along with severe heat waves and drought that occurred during the pivotal phases of flowering and early fruit formation, have put Brazil on track to register one of its worst orange harvests in more than three decades, according to a new report published by Fundecitrus and CitrusBR.

In the past, orange juice makers have avoided long-term shortages by freezing juice stock, which can be preserved and used for up to two years, according to the Financial Times. However, even that frozen stock is dissipating because of a three-year shortage build-up.

Cools said that manufacturers may have to consider using a different fruit, like mandarins, because their trees are more resistant to the greening disease. However, that could be a lengthy process.

  • littleblue✨@lemmy.world
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    5 months ago

    Fair point, and oddly enough right up my alley, too. On one hand, I’ve hated “cranberry juice” for so long that I guess I assumed it was sugary bullshit all over the world. Sorry for that. 🙇🏽‍♂️ On the other, “don’t try this at home” is my middle name.

    • smokebuddy [he/him]@lemmy.today
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      5 months ago

      in Canada the cranberry juice concentrate in glass bottles they sell in the health food section that you have to mix with water yourself is legit, the plastic bottles of ocean spray is either “cocktail”, something like 5-10% real cranberry juice and the rest sugar water, or “100% juice” but mostly apple/pear with some cranberry. There used to be a cranberry bog nearby on a reserve that sold the glass bottle concentrate pretty cheap, was good stuff.