Tariff threats on fresh fruit and vegetable imports and exports have the industry in a state of concern about business uncertainty.
Each commodity has its own issues and will be affected differently than others should tariffs become real.
Outside of the produce industry, bigger sectors like energy, automobiles, steel, and aluminum tend to grab headlines.
But subscribers of the Wall Street Journal over the weekend got to read about a familiar item with a fascinating history that would certainly feel the sting of tariffs: the avocado. Why America Now Eats a Crazy Number of Avocados – WSJ
It’s well known in produce circles that avocados have ridden a surging consumer demand wave in the last two decades, and the vast majority of avocados consumed in the United States are imported from Mexico.
Now WSJ readers know the story, and some of the details could even be surprising to produce professionals.
The business newspaper showed how U.S. per capita consumption has risen from just over 1 pound 30 years ago to 9 pounds today.
There are many reasons for how we got here. Among them is the popularity of the California-grown Hass variety, which was adopted by high volume Mexican growers.
Another factor is that Mexican avocados have only been allowed in the United States since 1997, and then, they were only allowed into the northern portion of states. It wasn’t until 2007 that they were allowed into the entire country, the same year the iPhone came onto the scene, the WSJ notes.
And a big reason is that growers and distributors figured out American consumers lack the patience to wait days for avocados to ripen, so they had to offer ripe and near-ripe fruit at retail. As the WSJ puts it, “avocados had to be more like bananas.”
California grows commercial quantities of avocados, but it can’t come close to producing enough to fill American consumer demand. Thus, Mexico supplies about 80 percent of the Hass market in the United States, followed by California at about 12 percent, Peru at 5 percent, Colombia at 2.6 percent, and “others” at less than 1 percent.
When Mexican avocados were allowed into all U.S. states in 2007, per capita consumption was about 3.5 pounds. Less than 20 years later, it’s nearly triple that.
The WSJ does not try to predict what will happen with tariffs, and if imposed, what they could do the price of avocados in the United States.
But it does say there are probably two things that won’t change with the avocado economy: “The first is that U.S. companies will keep importing from Mexico because that’s the only way they can meet the year-round demand.
“The chances of American farmers [growing] enough avocados on their own are roughly the same as their chances of making avocados neon pink.
“The second is that U.S. consumers will keep buying avocados.”
Tariff threats on fresh fruit and vegetable imports and exports have the industry in a state of concern about business uncertainty.
Each commodity has its own issues and will be affected differently than others should tariffs become real.
Outside of the produce industry, bigger sectors like energy, automobiles, steel, and aluminum tend to grab headlines.
But subscribers of the Wall Street Journal over the weekend got to read about a familiar item with a fascinating history that would certainly feel the sting of tariffs: the avocado. Why America Now Eats a Crazy Number of Avocados – WSJ
It’s well known in produce circles that avocados have ridden a surging consumer demand wave in the last two decades, and the vast majority of avocados consumed in the United States are imported from Mexico.
Now WSJ readers know the story, and some of the details could even be surprising to produce professionals.
The business newspaper showed how U.S. per capita consumption has risen from just over 1 pound 30 years ago to 9 pounds today.
There are many reasons for how we got here. Among them is the popularity of the California-grown Hass variety, which was adopted by high volume Mexican growers.
Another factor is that Mexican avocados have only been allowed in the United States since 1997, and then, they were only allowed into the northern portion of states. It wasn’t until 2007 that they were allowed into the entire country, the same year the iPhone came onto the scene, the WSJ notes.
And a big reason is that growers and distributors figured out American consumers lack the patience to wait days for avocados to ripen, so they had to offer ripe and near-ripe fruit at retail. As the WSJ puts it, “avocados had to be more like bananas.”
California grows commercial quantities of avocados, but it can’t come close to producing enough to fill American consumer demand. Thus, Mexico supplies about 80 percent of the Hass market in the United States, followed by California at about 12 percent, Peru at 5 percent, Colombia at 2.6 percent, and “others” at less than 1 percent.
When Mexican avocados were allowed into all U.S. states in 2007, per capita consumption was about 3.5 pounds. Less than 20 years later, it’s nearly triple that.
The WSJ does not try to predict what will happen with tariffs, and if imposed, what they could do the price of avocados in the United States.
But it does say there are probably two things that won’t change with the avocado economy: “The first is that U.S. companies will keep importing from Mexico because that’s the only way they can meet the year-round demand.
“The chances of American farmers [growing] enough avocados on their own are roughly the same as their chances of making avocados neon pink.
“The second is that U.S. consumers will keep buying avocados.”
Greg Johnson is Vice President of Media for Blue Book Services
