With bad press about how grapefruit interacts with some medications and growing popularity of competing citrus, demand for grapefruit has waned over the years. But this year, demand has matched up with supplies as volumes from Florida have been affected by citrus greening.
“This is the first season in many years where I think demand and supply have matched up,” said David Brocksmith of Seald Sweet. “The typical grapefruit deal has pricing collapse and everyone fighting to keep inventories rotated after a few weeks. But, this year, prices have remained good.” Florida's citrus crop has suffered this season, and though grapefruit production isn't going to be down as much as orange production, volumes will be down. With less fruit, prices for available fruit are better.
“You have three things affecting grapefruit,” explaind Brocksmith. “On the supply side, you have citrus greening disease that's taking a tremendous amount of grapefruit out of the market. You have decreased consumption because of drug interaction problems, and then you also have competing varieties. Grapefruit is not selling like clementines, which are a more convenient piece of citrus.” The industry has worked hard to inform consumers that one doesn't have to give up grapefruit if on certain medications, it's just a matter of not taking them at the same time. Those efforts could pay off in the future.
“All of our research says that we've flattened out on demand,” said Brocksmith. “There's less price pressure on growers because supplies are matching up. So even with less volume, it's been an encouraging start to the season.”
