UK households who have orange juice in fridge warned over £70 charge

A breakfast staple is set to hit a staggering 20 per cent price rise in a year – and costs are set to surge even further. It has been suggested that demand from buyers could outstrip supply as early as next month — which will keep prices high.

Oranges have been decimated by crop diseases and climate change with harvests seeing prices rocket by a FIFTH. Heatwaves in Spain have impacted the rises, as well as a cold winter in Florida, which has also seen two hurricanes wreak havoc.

In South America, most namely Brazil, millions of trees have been killed by an incurable bacterial infection called citrus greening disease. The average for own-brand juice in UK supermarkets is up 21 per cent to £1.34 a litre, The Grocer reported, meaning a family getting through a bottle a week faces a £70 charge.

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British company Coldpress, which launched in 2011, said it had switched from using oranges to mandarins to combat the soaring price. A spokesman said: “It’s worth noting that mandarins are a fantastic, low-calorie fruit jam-packed with beneficial vitamins and minerals.”

According to Coldpress founder Andrew Gibb, declining US and Brazilian crops, mounting Red Sea tensions and increasingly unpredictable weather patterns have led to an increase in orange juice prices. This, in turn, has led the company to explore the possibilities provided by other, more accessible fruits.

Gibb expanded: “Mandarins are a fantastic, low-calorie winter fruit, packed with vitamins and minerals. Alongside vitamin C, which ably supports one’s daily immune system function, mandarins contain two antioxidant phytochemicals (beta-carotene and beta-cryptoxanthin) that your body turns to vitamin A, which supports good vision, a healthy immune system and positive growth development.”

Coldpress mandarin orange juice debuted across UK retailers from March. The chief also explained how the shift and dexterity shown by the country means it can expand into new ranges like mocktails too.