Avocado producers from the south of Jalisco brought avocado oil processing technology from New Zealand. Its application, besides its use in their business plans, has allowed producers to export avocado oil to New Zealand, said the head of collection of the Mevi Company, Melesio Larios Lopez.
Larios Lopez said that they export avocado oil to New Zealand because that country has a very attractive segment to market it. There is an optimistic scenario because of the market trends that increasingly give more priority to health-friendly oils, such as the avocado oil, which also has nutritional characteristics that make it competitive, even when compared to olive oil.
He said that they required 150 kilograms of avocado pulp to produce virgin oil, which explains the relatively high cost of this product when compared to the prices of other vegetable oils.
The company has packing facilities and avocado producing orchards in Michoacan and Jalisco. The company buys 600 tons of avocados every week in Jalisco and also conducts purchases in the town of Peribán, Michoacan.
The Association of Producers and Exporters of Avocado from Jalisco (Apeajal) stated that Jalisco might be able to export avocados directly to the US market in the short term. This, in turn would be a trigger for increased investment, both in the field and in the processing industry and various service segments around this fruit.
According to Apeajal, during 2014 the production amounted to 87,000 tons of avocado, 28,000 tons of which were exported.
International market
Operations related to the export of avocado from Jalisco amounted to $4.7 million in 2009. In 2014, however, they amounted to $70 million dollars.
On 18 February, the Federal Register started the enactment of a consultation period to allow direct export of Mexican avocados to municipalities other than those of the State of Michoacan.
Source: INFORMADOR.MX