Orange juice prices reach record highs

Orange juice prices overview: 

• Who: The price of orange juice futures has increased to a record high of $3.69 per pound. 
• Why: The increase has been attributed to bad weather and hurricanes that affected Florida last year. 
• Where: Rising orange juice prices are affecting consumers nationwide. 

The price of orange juice futures have increased to a record high of $3.69 per pound, with bad weather and hurricanes decreasing crops of oranges in Florida to their lowest point in nearly 80 years. 

Future prices for orange juice are up 13% month to date and nearly 78% year to date, following inclement weather and hurricanes in the Sunshine State last year, CNBC reports. 

The orange juice industry in Florida — the main producer of orange juice in the U.S. — was also reportedly negatively affected by a freeze at the end of last year. 

The U.S. Department of Agriculture, meanwhile, said in July that it expects Florida to produce about 15.9 million boxes of oranges this year, down 70% from the 2020-2021 season, reports CNBC. 

The market for frozen orange juice concentrate has also gotten more expensive, with the item increasing by 270% since 2020 due to issues involving weather and disease, according to Yahoo Finance. 

In total, Florida is reportedly expected to be able to produce 713,000 tons of oranges, which would be the smallest amount since the 1936-1937 season. 

Orange juice industry has been negatively affected by citrus greening

The malady affecting the citrus industry is known as citrus greening, a type of bacterial disease that is transmitted by the Asian citrus psyllid insect, Yahoo Finance reports. 

The effects from citrus greening and inclement weather have also reportedly been felt outside the country, in Brazil and Mexico, the world’s first- and third-largest producers of orange juice, respectively. 

Industry experts have been looking into ways to combat the effects of bad weather and citrus greening, including a $1 million grant the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) National Institute of Food and Agriculture gave a researcher at Purdue University, according to Yahoo Finance. 

The USDA reportedly wants the researcher, Kurt Ristroph, to create a plant-based drug delivery system that would help plants stave off citrus greening. 

Consumers have recently filed a number of class action lawsuits against companies over claims they falsely advertised their canned fruit or fruit juice products are free of preservatives and/or contain 100% juice. 

Have you felt the effects of an increased price for orange juice? Let us know in the comments.

Read About More Class Action Lawsuits & Class Action Settlements:

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• Recall announced for salad kits sold at Wegmans due to undeclared egg
• Costco class action claims retailer falsely advertises cranberry juice as containing no preservatives
• Wiley Wallaby class action alleges licorice falsely advertised as naturally flavored