Bare Shelves in Margaritaville - Life in the Late Covid Economy

It's been roughly 16 months since Covid started messing up the economy.  Here in Wisconsin we've mostly done OK.  Various items that people were tussling over in store aisles elsewhere stayed available.  Toilet Paper?  With all our paper mills the Badger State is basically the Saudi Arabia of TP.  Hand Sanitizer?  Our local breweries and distilleries converted over to making it rather quickly.  Ammunition?  I only keep track of what I'll be needing for deer hunting, and in recent weeks the shelves have started to have something other than dust bunnies on them.  

Everywhere there is a relative shortage of lumber and building materials.  Who knew that Americans would turn to home improvement projects?  I guess it makes sense, if you are stuck looking at four walls you naturally start thinking about building additions, adding new windows etc.  One of my kids is operations manager at a place that makes the machines that make the windows.  They are doing land office business.

But recently a few odd, late Covid shortages have come to my attention.  Canning jar lids.  Huh, did not see that coming.  It's probably a combination of things.  Another facet of the "stuck at home" mindset.  And we suspect that some of the cheaper ones come from China.  Getting product across the Pacific has been a challenge of late.

But I have no convincing explanation for another shortage that I've been working on today.  Frozen lime juice.  

This morning my better half asked that I swing by the local grocery store on my morning walk.  'Pick up a couple cans of Limeade.  Not lemonade.'  One can hardly make a decent Margarita with the latter.

Local grocery store: no Limeade.  Walmart: no Limeade.  Hey, what gives?

97% of the limes we consume in the US come from Mexico.  I was unaware of any problems with supply, although a brief Google search did come up with a lime shortage back in 2014.  The usual issues, and a few unusual ones, were mentioned.  Weather and disease.  Drug cartels were said to have gotten into the lime trade.  The first news article that pops up on said search is from the Huffington Post so presumably they blame Republicans for it somehow.

As to what is going on in 2021 it is hard to figure.  There seems to be something going on in Mexico that is impacting lime production but nothing specific turns up outside of paywalls.  

Well, cartels and plagues be damned, wife wants Margarita.

Eventually I was able to come through.  There is a huge mega grocery store in the next town over.  I shop their liquor store as they have a superior beer selection and good prices.  But for foodstuffs I try to support our local merchants.  Still, desperate times call for desperate measures.

I looked around carefully before grabbing four cans out of the freezer case and walking briskly to the checkout.  I did not expect cartel thugs but could quite believe in the possibility of hostile, parched lipped, middle aged hausfraus giving me the stinkeye for grabbing what looked like more than my fair share......

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Addendum.  I'm told that fresh limes are still to be found.  A scarcity of Limeade might reflect changing tastes or perhaps a shortage some time ago that has eased.  This does not help make the 'Margies' of course.