The UK could be hit with an orange juice shortage this summer as prices soar by 30% amid bad weather and disease

The UK could be hit with an orange juice shortage this summer as prices have soared by 30 per cent in the past year.  

Supplies have been squeezed by a combination of bad weather and disease among the major growing regions of the world and industry analysts believe demand in the UK could outstrip supply by the summer. 

An outbreak of ‘greening disease’ in Brazil – the world’s biggest grower of oranges – has meant farmers are harvesting the crop much earlier than usual before the blight damages the fruit, said trade journal The Grocer.

This has led to a smaller crop and a lower ‘disappointing’ quality of fruit, said Mintec fruit analyst, Harry Campbell. 

He added that major Brazilian producers were also limiting supplies going out, leading to the price on the commodity market rising by 130 per cent in the past year.

The UK could be hit with an orange juice shortage this summer as prices have soared by 30 per cent in the past year (Stock image)

Supplies have been squeezed by a combination of bad weather and disease among the major growing regions of the world such as Spain and Brazil (Stock image)

Other countries have been affected, notably Spain which suffered record high temperatures last summer.

Orange production worldwide in 2023/24 was 10 per cent lower than the five-year average and prices have already started to rise in the UK.

An average litre of own-label orange juice in Britain’s major supermarkets has risen by 31 per cent year on year to an average of £1.35 and by 13 per cent since the beginning of this year alone.

Andrew Gibb, managing director of Coldpress Juices, told The Grocer that recent price rises had been ‘unprecendented’ at a time when costs were also rising 

He said: ‘We are hoping for a return to “normalish” levels in Spain for early 2025.’ 

Gavin Partington, director general at the British Soft Drinks Association, added that orange shortages had created an ‘unprecedented situation’ within the market. 

He said: ‘Producers are trying to find efficiencies to help absorb and avoid passing significant price rises onto consumers but inevitably there has been some inflation on the product due to the chronic difficulties around obtaining oranges for juicing.

‘It should be noted that most other juice products are not seeing the same shortages of their constituent fruit.’