Why is there Cilantro shortage? Cilantro is in great demand, but its supply is short now; this commodity is in excessive demand, and its severe demand enhances the supply conditions. There are several reasons for its discontinuation in the U.S., such as its harvesting period and more supplies needed to meet customers’ demands.
There are various parts of Mexico, including Puebla, The Baja region, that were unable to supply enough quantity for Cilantro in the different parts of the U.S. They need more resources that meet the demands of the marketplace and domestically. It was believed that the shortage of products would continue for more than two weeks minimum.
People made a schedule to meet all the demands and the sizing of bunches that may become smaller. If we talk about Cilantro’s quality, production, and growing region, we have gathered information.
Baja, Mexico, is a growing region with a higher market rate and good quality. Salinas, California, is a growing region, its market rate is higher, and quality is good. Oxnard/ Santa Maria, California, is a growing region with a higher market rate and good quality.
Let’s read on! If you want to know more about Cilantro and its supply, you must go through this blog post. This may help you.
Is Cilantro Shortage In 2023?
People are up in arms after hearing that the Cilantro is nowhere to be found as the federal government had prohibited Cilantro imports outside that imported mainly from parts of Mexico; when the government banned its import, local stores and restaurants were significantly affected.
Cilantro is now out of stock and can no longer be found in grocery stores. A manager at La Carreta in Merrillville, Jaime Gonzalez, stated on its shortage, “Thier Cilantro prices have tripled in the past month.” they also added, “It is costly,”
Due to the Cilantro shortage, restaurants and local stores are significantly impacted. Regarding restaurants, Cilantro is used in various dishes, sauces, and many more. When it comes to tasty dishes in restaurants or the home, Cilantro comes at the top and is a main ingredient in garnishing the dish.
But their prices increase, and the shops with a limited stock of Cilantro are selling at high prices. The restaurants reduce the use of Cilantro in their dishes and try to cut back, but the main issue is that some dishes, such as salsa, which is the key ingredient, are tough to cut from these types of dishes. The Cilantro shortage hit hard.
When explaining this, one of the representatives said, “It won’t be the same without cilantro.”
One woman came to buy Cilantro from the local stores, but she could not find it elsewhere.
Also, at the Lake Station grocery store, an employee (we can’t mention his name, so please ignore) let’s read his story; he went to the grocery store to buy Cilantro, but they were out of stock, and the retailer said the store went without this herb for about two weeks in the start of this month and later, Cilantro has undergone shortage.
When he returned two weeks after this incident, he found Cilantro was back and selling as well as it usually sells, but their prices increased only about 30 percent.
Other customers also ask the retailers about it; when the store has no stock of Cilantro, how it comes now, and they are selling at higher rates.
He said, “It’s still selling as well as it always did.”
Why There Is Cilantro Shortage?
One of the leading causes of the Cilantro shortage is the cyclosporiasis pandemic (It is an intestinal disease caused by a parasite that can cause various diseases, and diarrhea is the main target).
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration announced that Cilantro would be very hard to be found in the market at the end of July as the various parts of Mexico are majorly impacted by the outbreak of cyclosporiasis which diminished the Cilantro’s production and its farms in the Mexican state such as Puebla had been interrelated.
Initially, the same happened in 2012, when the pandemic affected various parts of Mexico and reduced multiple crop production, including Cilantro. This pandemic was initiated in 2012 but ended up in 2014. These two years were enough to drop its production and the overall economy.
Again it came and hit Mexican states hard. It was estimated that 26 states were suffering from the current outbreak that was initiated in May.
If we talk about recent data collected by the Centers for Disease Control, some states, including Indiana, have not suffered this outbreak and did not report cases.
During this outbreak, the FDA reported, “When we were investigating cilantro farms and other companies/ packaging companies in various parts of Mexico, especially in Puebla, i.e., 11 farms, we have found concerning conditions in those farms such as toilet paper, human feces, soap, running water, bathrooms lacking toilet paper, dirty tables, and many more these all are linked to the shortage of Cilantro.
When we were investigating, we found these concerning conditions that hit hard and forced the FDA to decide to ban the import of Cilantro from these Mexican farms with bad conditions to other parts of the country to prevent diseases until August 31.
FDA added, “The ban will go back into effect each year starting April 1 through the end of August because the period is when the cyclosporiasis outbreaks occur.”
What Other Food Will Be Short In Supply In 2023 Along With Cilantro?
Cilantro is in great demand, and its low supply affected today’s market in the U.S. Cilantro’s limited stock doubled in price, and its quality was reduced with lower yields.
Cilantro is widely used all over the world. Cilantro is available in ready-to-serve packaging; they are washed and trimmed, used in dishes, and as a main ingredient. But after its shortage, the quality is defective over the next 10 to 14 days.
Other several reasons are fast-moving rain storms and high winds in various parts of Mexico, such as Oxnard, California, and Yuma, Arizona, which have reduced its plantation and destroyed mature plantings that, lead to various issues, including yellowing leaves, premature breakdown, reduction in shelf life, longer stem length in finished packs.
There are other areas, such as Santa Maria and Salinas Valleys which were severely impacted and reduced all crops of Cilantro because of flooding, wrong planting schedules, and created the potential in April and May for supply gaps.
Now, people expect the cilantro crop to increase its growth and improve its quality, barring any major storm systems.
In 2023, Cilantro will be one of the foods that will be short in supply, and people are demanding its return. But some other foods are also short in supply this year, including:
- Eggs
- Tinned Fish
- Beef
- Champagne
- Lettuce
- Canned Drinks and Foods
- Sunflower Oil and Palm Oil
- Bread and other wheat products
- Corn
- Oranges and Orange Juice
What People Posted On Social Media On Cilantro Shortage?
Let’s put light on some posts that people have posted on social media on the Cilantro shortage:
“We’ve had a cilantro shortage due to bad weather in C.A., but everything else should be the same.”
“I have not been able to find any at Coles or Woolworths, but the fruit shop had heaps, and so did Queen Vic Market when I passed by the other day on my way back after work. It is better, IMO, because I get way more for way less $.”
“No… let Pizza Hut put all the Cilantro on this pizza. Less Cilantro in the world to be put on our food.”
“Damn, I used to ask for this a few years back. Is it no longer acceptable? Or make a bunch more for you guys?”
The Bottom Line
In this blog post, we have concluded that there is a shortage of Cilantro, but its shortage is not permanent; it is just to prevent acute diseases from occurring during the cyclosporiasis outbreak.
Although Various retail stores in the United States still sell Cilantro, we can’t figure out how much of the Cilantro the country sells comes from Mexico. Cilantro is majorly produced in Puebla but also suffered the most from the cyclosporiasis Outbreak.