Costly citrus: Florida’s ‘decimated’ crops could send prices climbing
VANCOUVER — The price of a mimosa at brunch or bag of oranges at the grocery store may jump in the coming weeks, experts say, after hurricane Irma left some of the state’s citrus producers completely depleted.
“If you take a big chunk out of our supply, it means that prices are going to go up,” said Michael von Massow, an associate professor at the University of Guelph.
Hurricane Irma led to dozens of deaths in the Caribbean and southeastern United States, and left more than one million homes and businesses without power in Florida.
“It is devastating. It has decimated our industry,” said Adam Putnam, the state’s commissioner of agriculture, at a Florida citrus commission meeting last week.