Mexican avocado is a product with a high demand and exports are expected to amount to $1.7 to 1.8 billion dollars by the end of the agricultural year, said Benjamin Grayeb, vice president of the National Agriculture and Livestock Council (CNA).
In an interview, Grayeb said avocado exports were far from surpassing the country's oil revenues, as "the agricultural food sector as a whole is the country's third ranking exports, after the manufacturing industry with 54.9 billion dollars; the automative industry with 22.9 billion dollars, then food industry with 8.327 billion dollars."
He added that according to data from the Bank of Mexico (Banxico) the products that have given Mexican exports a boost were: beer, tomato, and avocado; even though this will close with a decrease of 200,000 tons due to low production.
"The avocado has become a world icon, but more importantly, its profits are distributed among 20,000 domestic producers, 80% of which barely have 5 hectares," said Grayeb.
Regarding the increase in avocado prices, he said that this was due to supply and demand, as the 2016-2017 season was closing with a 20% decrease in production. In addition, he said, the market has increased which has led to an increase in prices, however, prices are expected to stabilize in the month of July.
Source: eleconomista.com.mx