High lemon and lime costs leave a sour taste

Citrus fruit supply hit by low production and delayed arrivals due to rising fuel costs

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The scorching summer is turning out to be a bitter experience for lime and lemon sellers in the city as supplies have slowed down and prices have floated up to stratospheric levels. And there is no respite for those out in the sun either. For lime juice, once the cheapest options in natural thirst quenchers on the streets, is now selling for close to ₹20 per glass.

This week, lemons are priced at ₹15 per piece, while acid limes are selling for ₹45-50 per kilo at retail rates across shops in the city.

At Gandhi Market, which is said to have at least 200 wholesale and retail traders in citrus fruits, vendors are reluctant to speak, anxious that the media attention may worsen their plight.

“Prices have definitely gone up, but the demand has been steady despite this,” a seller told The Hindu. “We have people buying limes as temple offerings, to run juice stalls, stock in neighbourhood groceries, and from those observing the Ramzan fast. But the old momentum has gone. We used to be busy from early morning until 8 p.m. before the pandemic. Now we have to down shutters by noon because there’s no stock left,” he said.

The daytime heat that sneaks in past the tarpaulin roofing over the rows of shops in Gandhi Market underlines the real cause for the soaring demand for lime and lemon. Besides being a healthy drink for heat stress, the fruits are used as temple offerings and also strung up with chillies as talismans to ward off the evil eye.

The market gets acid limes from farms in Dindigul, Tiruchi, Tirunelveli and Perambalur, while lemons are sourced from growers in Andhra Pradesh and other States.