Reasons Why Your Orange Juice Is 50% More Expensive Than in December 2023

Since May, your orange juice has been 50% more expensive than in December 2023, according to the latest inflation tracking figures from Dane. In fact, month to month, from March to April, it increased by almost 7%, closing the 20kg sack at $40,000, according to the daily report from Sipsa.

The primary reason is a supply and demand issue due to the country’s seasonal harvest. Currently, in Colombia, the periods of low orange supply are from March to April and from August to September. Most of the year sees a good supply because, in the Coffee Region, production occurs from May to June and from October to December; in the Eastern Plains, the harvest is from October to February and July to August; in Santander, from December to January and May to June; and on the Atlantic Coast, from March to June.

Corabastos explains that the dynamic has been solely driven by demand, expecting price recovery in the second half of the year.

“This price increase behavior occurs when there are very short harvest cycles due to seasonality. In fact, the most affected cities are Bogotá, Ibagué, and Bucaramanga,” says Lusi Ríos from Corabastos.

The alternating behavior in fruit trees leads to irregular production during productive cycles, marked by years of high harvest followed by years of low yields, with production increasing again the following year. “Similarly, the competition of photoassimilates in years of abundant harvests decreases the fruit size, but it increases in years of low production,” agronomists explain.