The price of lemons increases 153% in Mexico in one year: "We had to raise the price of tacos"

The price of lemons ranges between 65 and 120 pesos per kilogram in the country's markets.Edgar Negrete (CUARTOSCURO)

In the famous El Chupacabras tacos in the Coyoacán mayor's office, south of Mexico City, the same atmosphere of hubbub is no longer breathed as a few months ago.

“Before they had a clay pot with already sliced ​​lemons that each diner could fill up with as they please, now they only give you a quarter of a lemon for each taco,” says Luis Saucedo, a patron of this urban taco center.

The increase in the price of a kilogram of lemon is an open wound that hurts Mexican gastronomy. According to data from the National Information and Market Integration System of the Ministry of Economy, the price of the most used citrus fruit in the country's kitchen has increased by 153% compared to what was reported the previous year. In the Central de Abasto of the capital, you can find a kilogram from 65 pesos (just over three dollars), while in some supermarkets in northern and central Mexico it is sold for up to 120 pesos (almost six dollars).

Margarita Morales, a trader at the Colima market in the central Colonia Roma, no longer shows the price of lemons, which she currently sells for 90 pesos. “They are giving me the 20-kilo box for 1,200 pesos (about 60 dollars), I hadn't seen those prices and to that you have to add transportation and even if it is you have to earn a little,” he says.

It is not only about the price of citrus, an essential companion for dishes such as tacos al pastor and a popular dressing, but also the general increase in prices in Mexico, mainly energy to prepare food. Inflation in 2021 shot up to 7.36%, the highest level in the last 21 years. "Here we don't limit the lemons, but we had to raise the price of the tacos," says Adán Flores, a taco vendor near the Insurgentes Metro. From the 12 pesos that they used to charge for a suadero taco, they have now had to increase it to 15 pesos, a rise that did not sit well with customers.

The drop in lemon production nationwide is one of the factors that has caused this increase.

According to data from the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development of the Government of Mexico, the production of this fruit decreased 4%.

"It means 12,280 tons less compared to the previous month of the same year, which is a factor for the increase in the price of citrus," the agency mentioned.

David Lozano, a researcher at the Center for Multidisciplinary Analysis of the UNAM Faculty of Economics, indicates that there are two other incidents that caused this unusual increase.

"In Colima and Michoacán, the two main producing states, in addition to the effects of frost and climate change, there is interference by organized crime where farmers cannot distribute the product so easily," he says.

Michoacán, the State that concentrates 28% of the national production of this citrus, the harvest was reduced by 48.2% less in December 2021 compared to what was reported the previous year, a total of 66,166 tons less, just to mention one of entities dedicated to lemon production.

The popularity of lemon in Mexican dishes has also reached the morning conferences at the National Palace. This Monday, Ricardo Sheffield, head of the Federal Consumer Protection Office (Profeco), recognized the increase in the price of fruit, but minimized the impact by saying that other products are cheaper. “Although it is true that lemons have risen, it is also true that serrano peppers have fallen and saladet tomatoes have fallen, these products have offset the final package price of the increase in lemons,” he said this morning.

The president of Mexico, Andrés Manuel López Obrador, also referred to the increase in citrus to treat his second covid-19 infection, since it is one of the most used remedies to treat colds in the country.

"Honey for the throat, although lemon is expensive, I tried not to put so much on it, and remedies that we all already know," he assured.

For the economist Lozano, the price of lemon could remain high in February and March, as long as the security conditions in the producing states do not improve, as well as the frosts that affect the crops of this citrus fruit.

"It is a fact that climate change is already here, and that famine is no longer defined as food shortages, but rather as the impossibility of the population to acquire products at overpriced prices," he reflects.

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