The president of the National Agricultural Council (CNA), Benjamin Grayeb Ruiz, said avocado exports to the US this year had amounted to 800,000 tons, a higher amount than the 640,000 tons exported in the previous period. He also stated that Mexico was the leading producer of this fruit in the world, as it produced 1,300,000 tons.
In an interview, the leader said that Mexico had exported 1.5 billion dollars in avocados this year, so avocado exports were getting nearer to tomato exports, which amounted to 2 billion dollars. The avocado is fashionable, he said. Regarding the opportunity the sector had in the Arab market, he said, "we have to adapt so that we can export a higher volume of fruit to that region of the world within two years."
He recalled that Mexico accounted for more than 50% of the 2 million tons of avocado produced in the world.
Producers
Benjamin Grayeb said: "If one looks at the prices throughout the cycle, which goes from July to July, one can see that they were not very high. However, producers were left unprotected in the last two months, it's all about supply and demand. If you evaluate the year and think producers did really well you're wrong. The price was good in the last two months, when there is no harvest and 95% of the producers had finished. Things will stabilize, in fact, one may notice that prices have started to come down a bit, and it's because the new harvest is coming out. Our harvest peaks are from October onwards," said the president of the CNA .
Grayeb said that after entering the US market, Mexican avocado exporters wanted to conquer the Arab palates, for which they needed to create an air bridge between Mexico and the Arabian Peninsula to reduce the shipping time from four days to two.
Benjamin Grayeb said that the CNA had proposed the Strategic Advisory Council of Business Organizations to negotiate a free trade agreement with the countries of the Arabian Peninsula because of the opportunity that various Mexican products, such as berries, fruit concentrates, agave syrup, honey, and meat products had in the Arab countries. "The most demanded products in the Arab countries are honey, chickpeas, avocado, berries, dates, agave syrup, and canned food," he said.
Source: eluniversal.com.mx