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Samuel Rosales from the produce company said they hadn't received any lime imports from Mexico for the last three days as a tight supply in Mexico has driven up the availability as well as the prices for the citrus in the United States. (Photo by Joe Raedle/Getty Images) less MIAMI, FL - MARCH 26: Limes that have been imported from Columbia are boxed at SA Mex produce on March 26, 2014 in Miami, Florida. Samuel Rosales from the produce company said they hadn't received any lime ... more Photo: Joe Raedle / Getty Images Image 6 of 14 MIAMI, FL - MARCH 26: Marco Carmenatis prepares a box of limes that have been imported from Columbia for shipping to a customer at Marco produce on March 26, 2014 in Miami, Florida. Mr. Carmenatis said they hadn't received any lime imports from Mexico for the last three days as a tight supply in Mexico has driven up the availability as well as the prices for the citrus in the United States. (Photo by Joe Raedle/Getty Images) less MIAMI, FL - MARCH 26: Marco Carmenatis prepares a box of limes that have been imported from Columbia for shipping to a customer at Marco produce on March 26, 2014 in Miami, Florida. Mr. Carmenatis said they ... more Photo: Joe Raedle / Getty Images Image 7 of 14 MIAMI, FL - MARCH 26: Oscar Zubizarreta unloads boxes of limes that have been imported from Columbia at Marco produce on March 26, 2014 in Miami, Florida. Marco Carmenatis from the produce company said they hadn't received any lime imports from Mexico for the last three days as a tight supply in Mexico has driven up the availability as well as the prices for the citrus in the United States. (Photo by Joe Raedle/Getty Images) less MIAMI, FL - MARCH 26: Oscar Zubizarreta unloads boxes of limes that have been imported from Columbia at Marco produce on March 26, 2014 in Miami, Florida. Marco Carmenatis from the produce company said they ... more Photo: Joe Raedle / Getty Images Image 8 of 14 MIAMI, FL - MARCH 26: Dairoby Aldana (L) and Jose Manuel Schrunder sort limes that have been imported from Columbia at SA Mex produce on March 26, 2014 in Miami, Florida. Samuel Rosales from the produce company said they hadn't received any lime imports from Mexico for the last three days as a tight supply in Mexico has driven up the availability as well as the prices for the citrus in the United States. (Photo by Joe Raedle/Getty Images) less MIAMI, FL - MARCH 26: Dairoby Aldana (L) and Jose Manuel Schrunder sort limes that have been imported from Columbia at SA Mex produce on March 26, 2014 in Miami, Florida. Samuel Rosales from the produce ... more Photo: Joe Raedle / Getty Images Image 9 of 14 MIAMI, FL - MARCH 26: Marco Carmenatis prepares a box of limes that have been imported from Columbia for shipping to a customer at Marco produce on March 26, 2014 in Miami, Florida. Mr. Carmenatis said they hadn't received any lime imports from Mexico for the last three days as a tight supply in Mexico has driven up the availability as well as the prices for the citrus in the United States. (Photo by Joe Raedle/Getty Images) less MIAMI, FL - MARCH 26: Marco Carmenatis prepares a box of limes that have been imported from Columbia for shipping to a customer at Marco produce on March 26, 2014 in Miami, Florida. Mr. Carmenatis said they ... more Photo: Joe Raedle / Getty Images Image 10 of 14 MIAMI, FL - MARCH 26: Dairoby Aldana (L) and Jose Manuel Schrunder sort limes that have been imported from Columbia at SA Mex produce on March 26, 2014 in Miami, Florida. Samuel Rosales from the produce company said they hadn't received any lime imports from Mexico for the last three days as a tight supply in Mexico has driven up the availability as well as the prices for the citrus in the United States. (Photo by Joe Raedle/Getty Images) less MIAMI, FL - MARCH 26: Dairoby Aldana (L) and Jose Manuel Schrunder sort limes that have been imported from Columbia at SA Mex produce on March 26, 2014 in Miami, Florida. Samuel Rosales from the produce ... more Photo: Joe Raedle / Getty Images Image 11 of 14 MIAMI, FL - MARCH 26: Jose Manuel Schrunder sorts limes that have been imported from Columbia at SA Mex produce on March 26, 2014 in Miami, Florida. Samuel Rosales from the produce company said they hadn't received any lime imports from Mexico for the last three days as a tight supply in Mexico has driven up the availability as well as the prices for the citrus in the United States. (Photo by Joe Raedle/Getty Images) less MIAMI, FL - MARCH 26: Jose Manuel Schrunder sorts limes that have been imported from Columbia at SA Mex produce on March 26, 2014 in Miami, Florida. Samuel Rosales from the produce company said they hadn't ... more Photo: Joe Raedle / Getty Images Image 12 of 14 MIAMI, FL - MARCH 26: Dairoby Aldana sorts limes that have been imported from Columbia at SA Mex produce on March 26, 2014 in Miami, Florida. Samuel Rosales from the produce company said they hadn't received any lime imports from Mexico for the last three days as a tight supply in Mexico has driven up the availability as well as the prices for the citrus in the United States. (Photo by Joe Raedle/Getty Images) less MIAMI, FL - MARCH 26: Dairoby Aldana sorts limes that have been imported from Columbia at SA Mex produce on March 26, 2014 in Miami, Florida. Samuel Rosales from the produce company said they hadn't received ... more Photo: Joe Raedle / Getty Images Image 13 of 14 MIAMI, FL - MARCH 26: Marco Carmenatis prepares a box of limes that have been imported from Columbia for shipping to a customer at Marco produce on March 26, 2014 in Miami, Florida. Mr. Carmenatis said they hadn't received any lime imports from Mexico for the last three days as a tight supply in Mexico has driven up the availability as well as the prices for the citrus in the United States. (Photo by Joe Raedle/Getty Images) less MIAMI, FL - MARCH 26: Marco Carmenatis prepares a box of limes that have been imported from Columbia for shipping to a customer at Marco produce on March 26, 2014 in Miami, Florida. Mr. Carmenatis said they ... more Photo: Joe Raedle / Getty Images Image 14 of 14 MIAMI, FL - MARCH 26: Limes that have been imported from Columbia are boxed at Marco produce on March 26, 2014 in Miami, Florida. Marco Carmenatis from the produce company said they hadn't received any lime imports from Mexico for the last three days as a tight supply in Mexico has driven up the availability as well as the prices for the citrus in the United States. (Photo by Joe Raedle/Getty Images) less MIAMI, FL - MARCH 26: Limes that have been imported from Columbia are boxed at Marco produce on March 26, 2014 in Miami, Florida. Marco Carmenatis from the produce company said they hadn't received any lime ... more Photo: Joe Raedle / Getty Images Let's talk about the Lime Shortage of Spring 2014 1 / 14 Back to Gallery

This week’s Inside Scoop column is up online right this very second, and in the newspaper tomorrow. And it’s all about the GREAT LIME CRISIS of SPRING 2014.

Fabulous local cocktail writer Lou Bustamante beat me to the punch, penning a nice post yesterday on Alcademics about the situation; you should read his piece, too. Tacolicious also published a smart, thorough explanation of what they’re seeing in Mexico and what they’re doing at the restaurant; read it here.

In short, lime prices entered the ridiculous realm this month, shooting up from their usual $15-$20 a case into the triple digits — though some people have said that they dropped a little this week to the $95 range, which may be cause for some optimism.

In the Scoop column, I talk to the city’s top lime-using Mexican restaurants (Tacolicious, Nopalito, Tommy’s), folks from canine-inspired bars (Trick Dog, Dogwood), plus other non-Mexican places that use a lot of limes, like Dosa and Smuggler’s Cove. It’s obviously not confined to the Bay Area either; in fact, one clever Los Angeles bar is offering a free margarita to any customers who bring in a sack of limes from their own trees.

In a long email to Scoop, Tommy’s honcho Julio Bermejo explained that lime prices surge about four times a year, and about a decade ago, he remembers lime prices hit $80 a case — but that was only for a two-week period. Bermejo says it’s arisen from a perfect storm of factors. He gets his limes from Veracruz, Mexico, and echoes many of the sentiments that Tacolicious mentions: citrus disease, politics, extreme rains, extortion. Throw in the California drought and the Florida frost, and supply is way down.

He warns: “This would be the longest enduring lime problem in the history of Mexico and with prices like this a case of limes is more expensive than a barrel of oil.”

It’s not just something affecting the restaurant and bar industry either; NPR reports that a single lime costs an average of 53 cents today, compared with 21 cents last year. Read the full Scoop column here, and learn what local restaurants and bars are doing about the problem.

Here’s hoping this situation gets cleared up before Cinco de Mayo.

[Footnote: It’s also worth noting that many food prices are up dramatically this spring. The Chronicle has written extensively on beef and other drought-affected foods. Laurence Jossel of Nopa/Nopalito says avocados in particularly are surging right now as well.]