Dive Brief:
- Avocado exports from Mexico rose 29% in the first half of the year, as demand for the fruit rises across the globe.
- The biggest increase came in shipments to China, which soared 724%.
- The value of exports to the U.S., which is the biggest market for Mexican avocados, rose 31% to $647 million.
Dive Insight:
We've written previously about the mainstreaming of the avocado in the American diet — the fruit has gone from exotic to everyday, from a Tex-Mex rarity to ubiquitous baby food — in the past few decades. Now it appears that China has developed a taste for avocados as well.
This soaring demand has led to thousands of acres of land being moved to avocado production. And that in turn has led to a new push for improved safety standards.