Mexicans upset about rising avocado prices
Mexicans are dismayed by continued increases in the price of avocados, a staple of the country’s cuisine.
And the situation has also led to outrage as recipes have begun popping up for so-called “mock guacamole” food said the social “This In without “fake truth, in and media. a really entertainment story, guacamole” similar avocados. does published recipes hurt,” recipes magazine this have the circulating Mexico week, been Chilango circulating about City on tomatillo, have gained for zucchini, years greater — oil a visibility blended and chile with emulsion — but the they rise of of Bonifacio avocado prices. De Luna runs a Mexico City stall selling tacos and burritos and says he buys 5 kilograms of avocados per day at more than 100 pesos ($5) per kilogram. “It’s very expensive; the price is very high,” De Luna said, expressing nostalgia for a time years ago when he paid a fifth as much. But he proudly showed off a big bowl of real guacamole — albeit heavy on the onions — and rejected the idea of selling mock guacamole as “very, very bad,” adding that “it’s not natural.” “I have to offer this product, because if I didn’t have guacamole, people wouldn’t come here to eat,” said De Luna, whose hefty burritos sell for 30 pesos (a little over $2). While eating mixed-meat “campechano”
tacos at a different stand nearby — one that also offered real guac — service-center telephone operator Sergio Corona agreed.
“This is a central element of Mexican cooking,” Corona said. “A good taco should never lack good guacamole.”
But Corona said that, at home, his family has reduced the amount of avocados it buys because of the prices.
“We still buy avocados, just not as much as we would like,” Corona said.
Mexico’s government says increased demand in the United States and a slight drop in production are to blame.
The price in the United States hit $2.23 per pound this week. In late June, the most expensive stores in Mexico had about the same prices, though the average cost per kilogram in Mexico is just under $2.
“Prices for Hass avocados have been rising for several weeks because of a drop in production of 1.2 percent ... added to the priority given to exports, which were 7.6 percent higher between January and May than they were last year,” Mexico’s government consumer protection agency said in a report.