U.S. avocado consumption has jumped from 1 billion pounds to more than 3 billion pounds over the past 15 years, according to a new, 13-page report on multi regional market trends for avocados released in early May from Rabobank analysts David Magaña, Cindy van Rijswick and Gonzalo Salinas.
The U.S. now imports about 90% of avocados consumed in the country, and avocado imports coming from Mexico have jumped from 17% in 2001 to 90% in recent years, the report said.
Mexican avocado production has increased from 1.1 million metric tons in 2010 to 2.4 million metric tons in 2020, and availability in the U.S is likely to improve in the second half of 2022, given expected heavier exports from the Mexican state of Michoacan and the first-ever exports from Jalisco, which are expected to begin for the first time ever as soon as late May.
With about 30% of global production, Mexico is by far the largest avocado producing country in the world. Mexico’s 30,000 growers and 70 packing houses account for 40% of global avocado exports, the report said.
About 75% of the avocado production in Mexico is concentrated in Michoacan, while Jalisco accounts for about 10% of the national harvest. The balance of the national crop is supplied by the states of Mexico, Nayarit and Moreles, the authors said.
Source: The Packer