A Few Food Facts and the Price of Limes

On most packaged foods, there are obvious labels created by the Secretary of Health notifying the shopper of food that has excessive sodium, sugar, salt, calories, saturated fats, or food colouring (not recommended for children). This is the first year that we have seen these labels and I think they are a good idea.

As I have mentioned before, most of the meat, cheese or packaged foods that we buy cannot be bought in Troncones. We would have to go to a bigger grocery store in Zihua. But fruits, vegetables and seafood are readily available in little shops, close by, and are fresher and cheaper. Also, two or three times a week, a truck loaded with fresh fruits and vegetables arrives in town and you can buy these things from the driver who has a scale and weighs the items that you pick.

Shopping in a grocery store is not inexpensive but it does offer a bigger variety of food and some familiar items. It looks like the price of foods have gone up here due to covid issues, just like in Ontario.

Just for interest, I jotted down and converted the cost of some basic food items.

30 Eggs - $4.20
Hellman’s Mayo (960 gr) - $3.50
Oscar Meyer Jumbo hot dogs - $8.00
Alpura Natural unsweetened yogurt (900 gr) - $2.00
Obela Hummus- $4.50
Sliced ham - $10.00/kg
Whole milk - $1.40 l
White Wine Barefoot - $11.50
9 rolls of Toilet Paper - $7.25
Gouda slices (400gr) -$4.50
Genoa salami (100 gr) -$5.00

I just read this article about limes in a Mexican online paper.

“Lime prices in particular have seen dizzying increases. This past week, they cost an average of 70 pesos nationally. Last January they cost 18 pesos. GOVERNMENT OF MEXICO

Avocado, lime and chile see big spikes in prices
Inflation, austerity and climate disasters are just a few factors pushing up prices

Published on Friday, January 14, 2022

In the midst of record inflation, prices are on the rise. One tragic victim of the increases is guacamole: avocado, lime and chile, three key ingredients of the beloved green dip, have become significantly more expensive.

In Mexico City, chile prices ranged from 40 pesos (US $1.97) for a kilo of jalapeños to 125 pesos (US $6.15) per kilo for green chile de árbol, according to Mexico’s consumer protection agency Profeco. Avocados cost 67 pesos (US $3.30) per kilo on average, and a kilo of Colima limes cost an average of 62 pesos (US $3.05).

Lime prices in particular have seen dizzying increases in the past several weeks, hitting 80 pesos (US $3.94) per kilo in many areas of the country. In the second week of January, limes cost an average of 70 pesos (US $3.44) per kilo nationally. During the same period in 2021, the same quantity cost 18 pesos (US $0.88).

Grupo Consultor de Mercados Agrícolas (GCMA), an agricultural consulting group, blamed the price increase on low production. In some areas, limes are out of season, they said. In other places, like Michoacán, the fruit is in season but production is abnormally low this year due to a variety of problems, including unusual climate events and hurricane-damaged fruit.

Lime prices have also taken a hit due to the removal of a government subsidy and a lack of natural disaster relief, the group said.

In the case of avocados, prices could increase further as demand rises in early February, prior to the Super Bowl.

The price spikes come in the midst of high inflation in Mexico and around the world. Nationally, annual inflation hit 7.37% in November, its highest level in more than 20 years. In December, the Bank of México forecast a 7.1% end-of-year inflation rate.”Read more