Bad news for avocado lovers
Bad news for avocado lovers
(Feb. 21, 2022)
If you are someone who enjoys avocados, you probably heard the rumors about there being an avocado shortage in the United States. Avocados are beloved globally by many consumers and especially here in the U.S. Americans have appeared to really taken a liking to avocados especially over the past decade. With Americans consuming over 4x the amount of avocados compared to consumption in the early 2000’s, it’s very easy to understand why the temporary U.S. ban on avocado imports from Mexico in February alarmed workers in the avocado industry and consumers.
Avocado imports from Mexico to the U.S. were suspended indefinitely Feb. 12, after a U.S. agricultural plant safety inspector in Mexico received some sort of threat. The avocado industry is a billion dollar industry and Mexico supplies roughly 80% percent of the avocados eaten in the U.S. The weeklong ban was lifted, but some supply chain issues are likely to affect both business and consumers that rely on avocados. Many of the avocados that would have been shipped out to the U.S. during the ban are now too ripe to even be shipped. Subsequently, in addition to some supply-chain issues, consumers are likely to experience higher prices and a limited supply (for now).
When the news about the potential of a shortage rapidly spread across the industry, it was especially bad timing especially because it came shortly before the Super Bowl, which is one of the avocado’s biggest events. Quickly, food establishments and groceries began worrying about keeping up with a demand that has vastly increased throughout the past decade. Prices for the popular fruit were already enormously higher than the previous year (2020), according to analysts for RaboResearch Food & Agribusiness. However, the yearlong availability of avocados has also increased which probably indicates that the surge in demand can be attributed to different factors.
With the recent avocado news turning out to be more of scare than a disaster, it’s fair to be extremely worried about how the potential disaster, (if there actually were a shortage) would have had a devastating effect on both the U.S. and Mexican economies.