Jerry's had three limes for a dollar the other day, with a large amount available at that price, no limit. The limes were small but surprisingly juicy.

In the WSJ again, Saturday, there was a frontpage article about the shortage. No mention of drug cartels' hijackings.

"When Matador Cantina's genera manager Dave Dennis saw recently that a sharp rise in the price of limes was putting the squeeze [Ha!] on this Mexican restaurant, he called his mother. But the limes on the tree in her yard here [Fullerton, California] weren't ripe. So he asked his staff to hit up their friends for limes. He got just a few. With his cantina in need of 1,000 limes a week to use in cocktails, Corona beer and food, he decided to go public. 'Bring us a bag full of limes and get a crafted cocktail for just 25 cents,' Mr. Dennis posted on Facebook ad Twitter. He put up a sign in the restaurant: 'WE WANT YOUR LIMES.'"

Some interesting stats:
Mexico is one of the world's largest limes exporters.
Mexico supplies the U.S. with 97% of its limes.
U.S. consumes nearly 500,000 tons annually.
A 40-pound crate of Mexican limes has been costing more than $100 wholesale, four times the typical seasonal price.
U.S. per capita lime consumption has more than doubled since 1996, to 2.6 pounds annually.

Show us your limes! ha ha --Joy

They were 99 cents each at Mariano's on Cumberland on Thursday and I saw them at Fresh Farms this afternoon for $3.49/lb.

The issue is almost exclusively about weather and crop conditions. The cartel thing probably makes for a sexier headline but is only a reaction to the situation, not even close to the cause. And its effect is minor.

Lime juice concentrate has jumped from about $7/gallon to over $20/gallon and that's if you can even get it.

=R=

Hi,

At Jerry's Fruit and Garden in Niles, I saw limes for 20 cents each. I did not touch them to evaluate their juiciness.

Regards,

Hi,

At Costco in Mettawa, I saw a five-pound bag of limes for $9.99. I did find some were squeezable, which translates to juicy. Lemons were $7.99 for five-pounds.

Regards,

Goldmine at Mariscos el Veneno tonight!

I hope you took home what you did not use. That is just wasteful!

Persian limes were $2.95/pound today at Tai Nam Market on Broadway. Some of them looked horrible but some looked pretty good.

=R=

Tai Nam Market
4925 N Broadway
Chicago, IL 60640
(773) 275-5666

Plenty of good looking limes @ Mariano's Roscoe Village location @ $1.00/ea. The lemons, @ 3/$1.98 were thoroughly picked over, leaving a half dozen very soft rejects.

Bean,

Very soft can be the easiest to juice. If they have no evidence of something negative going on, I might have bought them if the price were right.

Regards,

Starting tomorrow, the Fairplay Foods near me is having "Zesty" limes on sale at 5/$1.

Maybe one near you too?

http://www.fairplayfoods.com/

Ron

And at the opposite end of the spectrum, Whole Foods on Ashland evidently decided to price gouge for Cinco De Mayo and jacked the single lime price from .79c to .89c. Lovely.

RonJS wrote:Starting tomorrow, the Fairplay Foods near me is having "Zesty" limes on sale at 5/$1.

Maybe one near you too?

http://www.fairplayfoods.com/

Ron

Yesterday, the Pete's had them at $1.99/lb, which works out to about 5 to the dollar, as well. It's gone down from the $2.99/lb a couple weeks ago. So, maybe some lime price relief in sight?

As for juicy limes, I look for the ones with the smoothest skin. I don't know how or why it works, but both my brother and I independently came to the conclusion that the smoother skin limes are juicier.

HI,

Six limes for $1.99 yesterday at Lewis Market in Waukegan. A bag of Key limes was maybe a dollar more.

Regards,

I saw the most expensive ones yet at the Grand Food Center in Winnetka today. $1.29. . .not per pound, PER LIME.

On the other hand, they've reduced the price for their fresh squeezed-on-site OJ to $4.99 per half gallon, cheapest in town by far. I love this store!

sundevilpeg wrote:I saw the most expensive ones yet at the Grand Food Center in Winnetka today. $1.29. . .not per pound, PER LIME.

Well, living ain't cheap in the 60093!

=R=

Trader Joe's had them for 49 cents each. They aren't huge, but they are fine and juicy enough, and work perfectly in my fizzy water.

2# bag key limes - $1.99 - Garden Fresh - Northbrook - http://www.circularhub.com/pub/gardenfr ... n_id=25594

Shop & Save had regular (Persian) limes today at 7-for-a-buck. Prices seem to be easing up, indeed. They were 2 for a buck about two or three weeks ago there. Key limes at Pete's are $3 for two 2lb bags (I don't see a minimum saying you have to buy two, so I'm assuming it's just $1.50 per two pounds.) I think the regular limes are down to $1.49/lb as well, but don't quote me on that one. (ETA: Actually, it's down to $0.99/lb as of 5/15/14).

With new crop from Mexico just around the corner, pricing will probably drop a bit and level off, and availability and quality may improve a bit. But pricing will probably not drop very far. It's not going to be great crop this year and because lemon is short, demand from the industrial sector for acidulents will keep the price of lime elevated over a typical year.

=R=

ronnie_suburban wrote:acidulents
=R=

I'll sure as balls be pepperin' that one in my next convo about lime prices.

seebee wrote:

ronnie_suburban wrote:acidulents
=R=

I'll sure as balls be pepperin' that one in my next convo about lime prices.

=R=

The long nightmare is over: 5/$1 at Harvestime.

Smassey wrote:The long nightmare is over: 5/$1 at Harvestime.

Also 7 or 8 for $1 at Tony's and the A&G, respectively.

Hi- I was just on mashupmom. which is a couponing site where I also occasionally post. Rachel, the owner of the site usually posts pictures of her latest finds. I believe she lives somewhere in the Lombard area, and she frequently goes to Pete's, Ultra, Aldi's, and Target, and occasionally goes to Jewel. She just went to Pete's today, and she got 3 limes for $.24!. BTW-Ultra accepts coupons up to 30 days past expiration. If anybody lives near a Pete's and needs limes it might be worth checking out. Hope this helps, Nancy

Sorry for the blurry cell phone picture. I got so excited when I saw all these cheap limes, I couldn't stop shaking like a chihuahua.

NFriday wrote: She just went to Pete's today, and she got 3 limes for $.24!.

Yeah, they've been 10 to the dollar for the last ten days or so at my local Pete's. It was 99 cents pound when I reported it on 5/15, and it went down to 10 to the dollar a few days afterwards. ETA: Actually, they're 12 to $0.99 here now, too.

Last Sunday at the new Tony's at Foster and Lincoln (old Dominick's spot), limes were 15 for a dollar. Whew, just in time for summer cocktail season! On the other end of the spectrum, River Valley Farmer's Table at 1820 W Wilson (old City Provisions spot) tonight has very small limes (but not as small as Key) at 79 cents each.

Big heavy limes at Mariano's Arlington Heights were 75¢, lemons 50¢

I got limes 12 for $1 at Tony's, and while they smelled great, getting juice out of them was like trying to get blood from a stone. My hands still ache from all the squeezing! Oh well, it would've been worse if they were still two for a dollar.