The Spinoff: Supermarket lemon shortage explained 17 Jan, 2021 08:26 PM 4 minutes to read Eyes peeled, no sign of lemons. Photo / Getty Images Other Supermarket shoppers looking for citrus are seeing a sour trend at the moment – some stores are entirely tapped out of lemons. But why? Batches of homemade lemonade will be taking a hit this summer, with life not giving New Zealand shoppers lemons. Prices are high at supermarkets and grocers that have the citrus fruit, and some stores have completely sold out. The problem isn't so much a domestic problem – the citrus industry in New Zealand is small, but is largely operating as normal. Rather, import difficulties are making it much harder to stack the shelves.