According to the USDA, more than 88 percent of Mexico’s horticultural exports are destined for the U.S. market. The strength of Mexico’s access to the U.S. market is, in part, due to efforts by Mexico’s horticultural growers to adapt to new U.S. food safety standards. The enactment of the Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA) in 2011 by the United States, encompassing the safety protocols of the entire U.S. food supply chain, prompted a transformative response from Mexico's horticultural companies.

To comply with the new FSMA requirements for food safety, Mexican horticultural entities made substantial modifications to equipment, invested in new infrastructure, and implemented advanced techniques for food testing. U.S. horticultural imports from Mexico have witnessed a twofold increase in volume since the implementation of FSMA in 2011.

Over the period spanning from 2000 to 2021, these imports demonstrated a compound annual growth rate of 8 percent. Adjusting for inflation, the import value surged from approximately $3.5 billion in 2000 to about $17.6 billion in 2021. Mexico emerged as the predominant supplier to the US in 2021, contributing almost two-thirds of U.S. vegetable imports and approximately half of U.S. fruit and tree nut imports.

In 2011, blueberry volumes from Mexico stood at 1.6 K tonnes, by 2022, this quantity had surged to 62K tonnes. Strawberry volumes rose from 71 K tonnes in 2011 to 229 K tonnes in 2022, while raspberry, blackberry, and avocado volumes experienced significant growth, reaching 114 K tonnes, 69 K tonnes, and 934 K tonnes, respectively, by 2022.

Source: USDA Market News via Agronometrics.

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