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.

  • fubarx
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    6 months ago

    If my grade school art teacher was correct, they could take some red cranberry juice and add some yellow lemon juice to get the same result.

      • Dasus@lemmy.world
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        6 months ago

        Cranberry and lemon?

        Have you had either, just as they are? Neither are particularly sweet. Biting into a lemon is rarely as refreshing an experience as biting into a ripe sweet orange.

        Guess if you added a metric fuckton of sugar it might be palatable, but if I want a want added sugar in my drinks, I’ll have a soda of some sort.

        • iturnedintoanewt@lemm.ee
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          6 months ago

          Sugar? You mean, “apple juice”?. Check your juices next time. They’ll never day added sugar. But somehow you always get apple juice.

        • AngryCommieKender@lemmy.world
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          6 months ago

          Depends on the lemon. Get some lemons in the southern part of Spain for example. Those are more closely related to oranges than citrons, and are quite sweet. It’s basically like biting into lemonade.

        • littleblue✨@lemmy.world
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          6 months ago

          I’ll give you a few seconds to guess how much high fructose corn syrup is in “cranberry juice”… 🤦🏽‍♂️

          • Dasus@lemmy.world
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            6 months ago

            Where I live? None.

            https://www.granholms.fi/fi/tuotteet/safter-och-glogger/karpalomehu-350-ml

            It’s still 20% sugar though to be palatable. I often buy my juices as proper cold-pressed, non-additive, non-sweetened, not that sweet one.

            So I’d have one like this https://www.anttilantila.fi/tuote/karpalomehu-0-5l/

            Although I don’t like cranberry. Bilberries are great though. And blackcurrant, if you ever want a boost to a shroom/lsd/ecstasy trip. Be careful with it though, it’d be actually dangerous. A cup of this with shrooms would considerably increase the effect. One of those “don’t try this at home” things. If you ever think about doing it, research it. https://www.shroomery.org/forums/showflat.php/Number/4949877#4949877

            I went a bit offtopic but eh. The answer is “none here.”

            • littleblue✨@lemmy.world
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              6 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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                6 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.

    • BarbecueCowboy@lemmy.world
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      6 months ago

      At that point, just go ahead and add some vodka while you’re there. You’ve got a screwdriver, a cape cod and a vodka lemonade all in one.