During the Super Bowl LVIII, the main event of the American Football League, Mexican avocados were once again a big part of the celebration.

To learn more about Mexican avocado's participation this year, FreshFruitPortal.com spoke with Armando López Orduña, general director of APEAM (Association of Avocado Producers and Packers Exporters of Mexico).

Lopez said that Mexico is the main avocado-producing country in the world and that APEAM, as an association "has been exporting avocados to the U.S. for 26 years, beginning with the state of Michoacán, and adding the state of Jalisco in 2022; with around 170 thousand hectares planted."

Super Bowl 2024

Lopez notes that avocados have become a tradition during the Big Game, and that "this year we had the second best year in terms of shipments for the Super Bowl with a total of 137,500 tons."

He says that shipments will continue after the Super Bowl and that "we have the big date on May 5 (Cinco de Mayo) coming up, which may be even more important in volume for avocado consumption in the United States."

United States

The executive director of APEAM, emphasized "We want to target high avocado-consuming states such as California, the East Coast, which is where exports began. We are looking for areas in the central and northern part of the United States, which are states with smaller populations".

He added "we are trying to have an impact through the promotions that Avocados from Mexico makes to the chain stores that have a presence in those places. When we started exporting, per capita consumption was around 500 grams and today we have more than 3 ½ kilos.

Projection

When asked about the growth of the U.S. market, López says he believes that the market will grow at around 5% per year.

He adds, "For the United States we expect to reach 1,100,000 tons and believe this will be maintained during the 2023-2024 season."

Markets

APEAM has about 35,000 producers and 90 packing houses, from which they send fruit to Japan, traditionally the second market, and Canada, which has surpassed Japan. They also have a minimal presence in Europe, Central America, and China.

Challenges

Given the success of the crop and exports, Engineer López emphasized: "Given that there are many players internationally, we are living in the global avocado industry, countries like Spain, Morocco, Kenya, and South Africa are also looking for their markets and that is forcing us to make those markets close".

He indicated that in the last season, they have maintained an adequate price level for the entire chain, it is a balance for all actors in the value chain.

Jalisco

Two years ago the state of Jalisco joined Michoacán's exports to the United States, "they are partners in the interest of exports to the United States and this allows us greater certainty in supply and in the preference of the quality of Mexican avocados".

He explained that the main objective is to supply the U.S. market, "we are being careful to consolidate the exportable supply to those other countries after the United States because we already have a demand and an expectation of consumers who prefer Mexican avocado; then we will guarantee the quality and presence of Mexican avocado in those countries".