Valley businesses affected by high cilantro prices
With a recent spike in cilantro prices, one McAllen restaurant has had to scale back.
Tortas La Central owner Catalina Isidoro said her tacos use a lot of cilantro, so she can feel the change in prices.
“It's like $50 a box, whereas sometimes it's just $20," Isidoro said.
Local vendor Candido Nieto said he’s also noticed the higher cost that he says is a result of Mother Nature.
“There's the drought, and then the hail beats up the product, o production goes down, and the price goes up,” Nieto, the vice president at Candymar Produce, said. “Recently, [Mexican cilantro] was coming in much shorter because of the drought problem in Mexico. Now, when there's a little more rain in Mexico, they come a little bit longer."
While it may take some time for consumers to feel the relief, Nieto says lower prices are coming.
“Fortunately, just this week we've started to have a little more production of cilantro in Mexico and a little more from California," Nieto said. “Next week it could probably drop another five or $10."
Watch the video above for the full story.