Jalisco avocado closing season

Despite harsh weather conditions this year, Jalisco, Mexico will end the season with around 120,000 tons of avocados exported. The Mexican state is just three weeks away from closing its 2023-24 avocado season, with a new fruit harvest expected in early June. 

Eleazar Oceguera, president of APEAJAL, told FreshFruitPortal.com that the previous season, the state exported 95,000 tons, meaning export volumes are growing every season. 

“This upcoming season we expect more volume and better fruit size because we are more prepared for any weather phenomenon that may affect us,” said Oceguera. 

He added that, during the first weeks of this season, fruit from Mexico was small and Peru was exporting a better-sized avocado to the U.S., so they could not send much volume during that time. 

“Around October 2023 we ramped up exports to the U.S. because size and quality were better,” he said. 

Prices

Oceguera said that prices have been good for bigger-sized fruit, but when they were shipping smaller fruit, the market was saturated, which brought prices down. 

“That is why we want to diversify our markets,” he said. “Because when one market gets saturated, we want to have other options, with better prices.”

The president of APEAJAL added that they’re trying to redirect some of their volumes to Japan and Europe, since their payments are higher. 

Looking at new markets

Thanks to the high volume of avocado production in Mexico, which reached 2.7 million tons in 2023, the country is able to fill in gaps in the market that other avocado-producing countries are leaving.

Oceguera said countries like Chile and Kenya have large portions of the year when they don’t produce, and there is scarcity in markets like Europe and Asia. 

“We must learn how to reach these markets during the times of the year when we see those open windows,” he said. 

“We’ve been knocking on doors for many years trying to enter China, South Korea, India, Malaysia, and many countries with growing consumption,” Oceguera added. 

China, he said, already approved all phytosanitary conditions of the Mexican fruit, so they are just waiting for authorities to sign the protocol to start exporting. 

Malaysian and Chilean experts also traveled to Jalisco to determine whether they have the appropriate conditions for those markets. “They liked what they saw,” Oceguera said. “We are working on a protocol with them to start exports as well.”

Challenges

The challenge for Jalisco in the upcoming seasons is keeping the quality of the fruit and showing consumers that they work sustainably. 

Oceguera said they are preserving water, addressing reforestation, and taking care of wildlife to show that they work both in favor of their industry and the environment. 

Projections for 2024-25

“This season we produced around 120,000 tons for the U.S. market only. In total, we are projecting around 280,000 tons destined for our local market and other export markets,” Oceguera said. 

Based on the company’s projection, he said that around 50% of their production should go to the U.S.

The fruit is also being sent to Canada, Japan, Europe, and Central America.

“We know we have to start moving our fruit to other markets, but we have to be cautious so that we don’t saturate any of them,” Oceguera said.

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