Avocados have conquered consumers' palates in 34 nations, but they are moving increasingly away from the tables of Mexicans. In Mexico, the world's largest producer of the fruit, the daily minimum wage of 80 pesos barely exceeds the cost of one kilogram of the green gold, whose average price stood at 67 pesos last week.
Last year, 53% of the national production ended up in the supermarkets of countries such as the United States, Canada or Japan, which are the main buyers of the fruit, as well as in about thirty more markets from all continents.
On the shelves of retail chains in Spain, the fruit is displayed as an exotic product, with prices reaching around two Euro (about 20.85 pesos, depending on the wholesale exchange rate of Banxico) per piece.
However, when taking into account the average minimum wage per country, the purchasing power of Mexican consumers is far from that which pertains in other latitudes.
That is, with the minimum monthly income in Mexico, which is around 2 thousand 400 pesos, you can buy 35 kilos of avocados, considering the average national price reported a few days ago by the Federal Consumer's Office (Profeco).
In contrast, the monthly minimum wage of the French (1,800 Euro) covers the cost of 185 kilos of green gold, at least based on the price (8 Euro) published this Sunday 21 May on Carrefour's website.
In Spain, for example, the monthly minimum wage of 826 Euro covers the cost of 118 kilos of avocados, taking as reference the price of 6.7 Euro at the supermarket chain Dia, one of the most popular in the country.
In Costa Rica, against which Mexico has a commercial dispute over avocados, the monthly minimum wage (293,133 colones) would be enough to buy 64 kilos of the product, while in Chile, the basic salary (of 253 thousand 750 pesos) would allow you to buy 78 kilos of avocados.
Given the increase in prices in Mexico, Profeco began a study on the factors shaping the behaviour of both the international and the domestic market; the goal is to learn what variables have an impact, since although the product is not part of the basic food basket, it is highly consumed in this country.
After analysing the factors, Profeco has urged avocado producers to increase their capacity in order to meet the domestic demand and thus ensure prices remain more stable.
Source: 24-horas.mx
