Orange juice prices are up 270% since the pandemic hit, as crop diseases and hurricanes hammer supply

• Orange juice prices have skyrocketed 270% since January 2020, per data from Refinitiv.
• The rapid spread of the citrus greening crop disease has led to supplies cratering.
• Other breakfast staples like eggs and bacon are becoming less expensive, though.

OJ has never been so expensive, with prices nearly tripling since the US recorded its first coronavirus case.

The rapidly spreading citrus greening crop disease and multiple hurricanes in Florida have hammered the supply of oranges in recent years, driving up the cost of the breakfast staple.

Orange juice futures have climbed from under $1 per pound at the start of 2020 to $3.50 per pound as of Friday, according to data from Refinitiv:

Meanwhile, the average cost of a 12-ounce can climbed from $2.32 in January 2020 to $3.42 in August, per the St Louis Fed.

Other breakfast staples like eggs and bacon soared in price last year but have gotten cheaper in 2023, thanks to higher interest rates dragging down overall inflation.

But orange juice futures' rapid rise has been driven by two factors that even the Federal Reserve can't control: disease and hurricanes.

Citrus greening is transmitted by infected insects and has led to the supply of oranges from Florida cratering 75% over the past quarter of a century, according to Successful Farming. It's also destroyed crops in Louisiana, Texas, California, and Brazil.

Two hurricanes that hit Florida during the second half of 2022, Ian and Nicole, have also hit citrus supplies, dragging the state's overall orange output to a low not seen since the Great Depression.

Some might say Insider is comparing Apples and oranges here, but OJ's 270% surge means it's even outperformed some of the US's flagship Big Tech stocks over the past few years.

The New York Stock Exchange's FANG+ index, which tracks mega-caps' share prices, is up 121% since the start of January 2020.

Nvidia and Tesla are the only two "Magnificent Seven" stocks that have delivered higher returns than orange juice futures over the same period.