Calgary Mexican restaurant says surging lime prices having a big impact

A Calgary restaurant says the rising cost of limes is putting a squeeze on its bottom line. 

Kevin Dichi, kitchen manager at Chilitos Taberna Mexicana, says his restaurant buys hundreds of limes and uses about 400 a week between its two locations — squeezing them into margaritas, guacamole, pico de gallo and tacos. 

And he says the price is the highest he's ever seen in his 10 years working at the restaurant. 

"It's a real impact." 

"We make a joke in Mexico that if you want to pay for something … we'd say, 'I'll pay this bill with avocado,' but right now it's limes. They're really expensive, even in Mexico," said Dichi, who has family living in Mexico City.  

He said the restaurant is feeling pressure due to increased prices on all ingredients, including onions, tomatoes and avocados.

"But not as high as the limes." 

Demand for limes is unusual because people — unlike restaurants — typically don't buy limes every day, says Sylvain Charlebois, director of the Agri-Food Analytics Lab at Dalhousie University in Halifax.  

He says many people will look at the price of limes and have no idea if they're expensive or not. 

"But professionals will certainly acknowledge that they are more expensive these days compared to just a few years ago," he said. 

Limes in Canada cost 12 per cent more than they did last year, he said, based on surveillance data coming from flyers and databases around the country. 

'Perfect storm' 

"In my almost 30 years in this industry, I've never seen it this high, out of Mexico with limes," said Mario Masellis, vice-president of sales and marketing at fruit importer Catania Worldwide.

He says last summer limes cost about $20 a case; right now, they cost upward of $75 to $80. 

He says Mexico is a huge supplier of limes to Canada, but the country had major weather issues, including a hurricane, impacting fruit production. 

Transportation is also an issue, he said, with there not being enough truck drivers to pick up loads, while others are stuck at the border due to long inspections. 

"It's the perfect storm with all the things waiting to happen. Box costs, the cost of a box to put the lime in has gone up 15 to 18 per cent. Labour issues. Add all that together and you have the problem that we're going through right now."