U.S. avocado market ripe for Mexico
Because Mexico's avocado-growing season ends as the U.S. season starts, demand for the fruit is created year round. Dan Grech reports the U.S. views Mexico as a trading partner in avocados rather than competition.
Avocados sliced open (California Avocados Commission)
More on International, Mexico
TEXT OF STORY
Scott Jagow: Americans plan to spend $10 billion getting ready for the Super Bowl this Sunday. New TV sets and furniture -- and, of course, 50 million pounds of avocados. You gotta have guacamole, right?
Last year at this time, the U.S. lifted a ban on Mexican avocados. We decided to check in on how U.S. growers have fared since then. Dan Grech reports from our America's Desk at WLRN.
Dan Grech: Trade is usually thought of as a zero-sum game. If Mexico ships more products into the U.S., then U.S. producers are hurt.
Avocados, it turns out, are different. A year ago, the USDA lifted a 93-year-old ban on avocado exports to avocado-producing states. The result?
Guy Witney: The outlook is still very good for all the parties involved.
That's Guy Witney with the California Avocado Commission. He says Mexican growers are seen as partners, not competitors. That's because Mexico's growing season ends when the U.S. season begins, stoking demand year round.
Witney: Because of the seasonality of the fruit, right now there is adequate space for everybody in the U.S. domestic market. Not to say that that's going to be the case forever.
Witney says Peru has an avocado-growing season that mirrors the U.S. And the South American nation is lobbying hard to enter the U.S. market.
I'm Dan Grech for Marketplace.
