Orange juice sees price hikes in stores as industry warns of shortages
Published in The Grocer
Britain’s favourite fruit juice is getting more expensive, with almost one in five fresh and long-life lines seeing a price hike in the past month.
Across the big five mults and the discounters, 29 products have undergone a rise in shelf edge price since 15 July, according to Assosia data.
In Sainsbury’s, own label orange juice climbed 4.3% on 1 August, while Tesco’s most recent hike was 4.3% on 21 August. Both products rose to £1.20.
Orange juice prices have soared as much as 37.7% in the past year in chilled and ambient, with Asda’s Just Essentials orange juice jumping from 69p to 95p – a 37.7% increase. Sainsbury’s standard and Tesco’s Growers Harvest orange juices climbed by the same amount.
Waitrose No.1 Freshly Squeezed Orange Juice swelled from a pre-promotional price of £3 to £3.40 in the year to 15 August, an increase of 13.3%.
Brands are also culprit. Tropicana Original Orange Juice four-pack at Tesco jumped 31.7% to £3.95, up 95p from £3 in the past year. In Sainsbury’s the same multipack hiked 75p to £3.85 from £3.20.
Innocent Orange Juice 1.35-litre in Sainsbury’s surged 24.2% to £4.10 from a pre-promotion price of £3.30.
Across the category, year-on-year prices are up 20.1% on average, with 90% of products facing a price rise across the year.
A Waitrose spokesperson said: “All retailers have seen external factors impacting the price of orange juice, but we’re working with our suppliers to keep prices low. For example, our Essential Smooth Orange juice is just £1.10 a litre. Likewise, we’ve got a range of special offers – including half price deals on Tropicana – to give customers great value.”
Harvir Dhillon, Economist at the BRC, said: “Over the past two years, yields of orange crops in key producing regions have been impacted by extreme weather events such as hurricanes and flooding, and most recently a citrus greening disease.”
Tesco, Sainsbury’s, Asda, Tropicana and Innocent have been approached for comment.
The increases come as the British Fruit Juice Association warned of a scarcity of orange juice, with the lowest level in more than 50 years.
“This severe shortage is due to crop failures in Florida, USA and historically low juice inventories in Brazil”, said David Fox, chair of the British Fruit Juice Association.
Sector sources warned last week that cost price increases in orange juice were looming as orange futures rose to $3 (£2.36) per pound.