Jalisco state approved to ship avocados to markets in U.S.

MEXICO CITY — U.S. consumers will finally get the chance to try avocados from Jalisco after 25 years in which neighboring Michoacan has been the only Mexican state authorized to send the green fruit to the U.S. market.

That just may help with prices, which have soared this year to over $2 per fruit amid a dip in production in Michoacan.

Growers and packers in Jalisco, just northwest of Michoacan, expressed hope that their state can provide more consistent production levels and stability for prices for avocados, which have fluctuated widely amid seasonal supply shortages.

“When we were talking about very high prices a month ago, it was because the market wasn’t getting enough supply,” said Javier Medina Villanueva, president of the Jalisco Avocado Export Association. “So we believe that the entry of Jalisco will close that supply shortage. I think prices will stabilize.”

Consumers in the United States won’t immediately recognize the difference: Jalisco avocados will be labeled simply as “avocados from Mexico” — a phrase promoted for years by producers in Michoacan.

Mexico currently supplies about 92% of U.S. imports of the fruit, and Mexico’s agriculture department says it is working to get more states certified.

Medina Villanueva said meeting U.S. sanitary requirements wasn’t easy. “It took 10 years,” he said. “It took patience.”

U.S. agricultural inspectors have to certify that Mexican avocados don’t carry diseases or pests that would harm U.S. orchards. The Mexican harvest is January through March, while U.S production runs from April to September.