Price of orange juice set to soar as disease ravages crops - but there is some good news

Shoppers are being warned to brace themselves for at least six months of hikes as the cost of frozen concentrate has rocketed by almost 40%

Orange juice prices are being squeezed after disease ravaged crops in Florida and Brazil.

Shoppers are being warned to brace themselves for at least six months of hikes as the cost of frozen concentrate has rocketed by almost 40% from £1,750 a tonne to £2,400 a tonne across Europe.

According to analysts Informa Agribusiness Intelligence (IAI) the higher cost of the popular breakfast drink will start to bite in the next three months as the season’s new juice starts to appear on supermarket shelves.

But the good news is pineapple juice prices are expected to fall following a glut of the exotic fruit on the market.

And the cost of apple juice is expected to remain steady, despite an expected leap in demand as shoppers ditch more expensive orange juice.

An abundance of apples from China and Poland is keeping prices down making it a cheaper part of the nation’s five-a-day.

At about £880 a tonne, the wholesale price of apple juice is roughly a third of the price of orange juice, figures show.

IAI analyst Neil Murray said: “Orange juice continues to be a woeful market where demand is declining as prices are increasing, but it will be interesting to see the impact of the Brazilian harvest in the new season.

“Apple juice offers a welcome spell of constancy in the fruit juice market, as prices remain low through steady supply from China and Poland.”

The research comes three months supermarkets were hit by a courgette and lettuce shortage with the greens crisis costing the industry around £8 million in January alone.

A combination of severe storms and flooding wiped out harvests in southern Spain, resulting in supermarket rationing of some vegetables.