The Vox Lime Index: Lessons we learned from the limepocalypse

By: Alex Abad-Santos and Danielle Kurtzleben

It's time to bid farewell to the Vox Lime Index. US lime prices appear to be moving closer to normal, with the average advertised lime price in the US sitting at 30 cents — not far above where it was last year at this time.

Grocery store prices are as of May 29, 2014. Stores include Foodie's Urban Market (1421 Washington St., Boston), Carr's (1340 Fairbanks St., Anchorage), Jewel Osco (6107 Archer Av., Chicago), Winn-Dixie (3275 Coral Way, Coral Gables), Safeway (888 Kapahulu Ave., Honolulu), Ralph's (2600 S. Vermont Ave., Los Angeles). National average advertised prices come from USDA data.

Of course, that's just among stores that advertised limes, but the number of stores that are advertising limes is also on the upswing, per USDA data. So what did we learn from covering the lime crisis? That is, aside from the fact that a certain store in Coral Gables, Florida will put you on hold when you ask how much limes cost, and then they will never come back, and they will do it four times in a row, and you will never get a price out of them.

But that's just a tiny lesson. We also learned valuable ways to prepare yourself for the next limepocalypse:

1. Plant a lime tree right now.

Lime trees can take seven years to mature and bear fruit. Plant now (assuming you live in a warm enough climate), and that might give you enough time to prepare for the next time tree diseases and cartels collide in a lime shortage.

2. Consider the lobster.

All of the news out there about the lime shortage may have in fact been good for grocery stores because it primed customers to expect — and accept — limes that cost more than a dollar each. As evidenced by our chart above, some stores haven't lowered their prices yet. If lots of stores are keeping their prices up, limes could go the way of the lobster — a food that sells for far more than it costs to produce, purely becuase people expect to pay more for it.

Source: Getty Images

3. Make your margaritas at home.

4. Get your limes in the off-season (if you can).

5. Know that the world won't end.

Will you support Vox’s explanatory journalism?

Most news outlets make their money through advertising or subscriptions. But when it comes to what we’re trying to do at Vox, there are a couple of big issues with relying on ads and subscriptions to keep the lights on:

First, advertising dollars go up and down with the economy. We often only know a few months out what our advertising revenue will be, which makes it hard to plan ahead.

Second, we’re not in the subscriptions business. Vox is here to help everyone understand the complex issues shaping the world — not just the people who can afford to pay for a subscription. We believe that’s an important part of building a more equal society. And we can’t do that if we have a paywall.

So even though advertising is still our biggest source of revenue, we also seek grants and reader support. (And no matter how our work is funded, we have strict guidelines on editorial independence.)

If you also believe that everyone deserves access to trusted high-quality information, will you make a gift to Vox today? Any amount helps.

One-Time Monthly Annual

$5/month

$10/month

$25/month

$50/month

Other

$

Yes, I'll give $5/month

Yes, I'll give $5/month

We accept credit card, Apple Pay, and Google Pay. You can also contribute via