Orange juice manufacturers are grappling with sky-high prices amid a global supply shortage that could force them to turn to alternatives like mandarins.

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.

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“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.

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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.

  • Aatube@kbin.melroy.org
    24·
    6 个月前

    It took centuries to come up with the smallpox vaccine. None of the control methods have available genetically-engineered trees. They can only substantially decrease rate of infection, but that’s nowhere close to 90%.

    • uis@lemm.eeEnglish
      82·
      6 个月前

      It took centuries to come up with the smallpox vaccine.

      Smallpox? Why thousands? You could say millions of years, you could say billions. Just don’t go over 14 billions, it would be complete nonsense.

      Smallpox vaccine is first vaccine ever made. Second vaccine took another while to be developed. Then they started to be created much more often. In current age developing vaccine for new virus(example) takes…

      - December 2019 - first recorded case

      - May 2020 - announcement of start of development

      - August 2020 - studies ended

      - September 2020 - studies published

      Obviously you can find vaccine that was developed faster.

      But since we are talking about genetically engieneering trees, here’s example. There is fungus that threats to make Cavendish banana and first was found in 90-ies, and I found article from 2023 about Australia approving export of engieneered bananas.

      Now back to CVPD. Since how CVPD works is described in Did we both miss “Antisense oligonucleotides” subsection? Exact modifications are already known. Just insert them into tree.

      EDIT: typos

      EDIT2: export of modified bananas, not fungus. Lol.

      • zalgotext@sh.itjust.worksEnglish
        2·
        6 个月前

        Just don’t go over 14 billions, it would be complete nonsense.

        Actually, the more data we get from JWST, the more evidence we get that the universe is older than 14 billion years. Some estimates have it in the 25 - 30 billion year range.