Avocados, Guacamole & Mexican Agribusiness
Cinco de Mayo celebrates the victory of the Mexican army at the Battle of Puebla over the French army, during the invasion attempt that took place on May 1862. Today, this occasion has become a popular celebration of Mexican culture for communities worldwide. In the United States, Cinco de Mayo is widely celebrated with Mexican food and music, such as guacamole and mariachi groups. This article explores avocado markets and guacamole consumption in Mexico, the United States, and worldwide.
Avocados, Guacamole & Mexican Agribusiness
The largest avocado producers in the world are Mexico with approximately 1.5 million metric tons annually and the Dominican Republic with some 400.000 metric tons. They are followed by Peru, Colombia, and Indonesia each yielding about 300.000 metric tons annually. Within Mexico’s agricultural industry, other key products are corn, wheat, soybeans, rice, beans, cotton, coffee, fruit, tomatoes, beef, poultry, and dairy products. Furthermore, the Mexican agricultural industry utilizes 55% of the national territory, while another 33% is forested. Similarly, in terms of natural resources, Mexico has petroleum, silver, copper, gold, lead, zinc, natural gas, and timber. Meanwhile, the national manufacturing and processing industry is focused on food & beverages, tobacco, chemicals, iron & steel, petroleum, mining, textiles, clothing, and vehicles. It is also important to point out that a sector of the Mexican economy is devoted to tourism. In terms of trade, Mexico’s main, and almost exclusive, partners are the United States and China.
Today, guacamole consumption in the United States is at its highest during the yearly celebration of the Super Bowl. Nevertheless, avocado imports and guacamole consumption in North America and Western Europe have increased substantially in recent decades, particularly in countries such as the United States, the United Kingdom, Canada, Norway, Sweden, the Netherlands, Belgium, and Luxembourg. Simultaneously, countries such as Kenya, South Africa, Australia, China, Argentina, Brazil, Guatemala, Israel, Spain, and Italy are all strengthening their avocado market through an increase in domestic production, imports, and domestic consumption.
In Mexico, unfortunately, out of a total population of over 123 million, some 4 million people suffer from undernourishment. Similarly, in recent years, the average per capita protein intake of animal origin amongst the Mexican population has been about 41 grams daily. Meanwhile, cereals, roots, and tubers supply approximately 44% of the average food energy intake in the country. Simultaneously, land distribution and agricultural output in Mexico have evolved slightly throughout the last half century. Back in 1961, permanent pastures and meadows in the country covered about 77.5 million hectares, while arable land covered another 19.5 million hectares and permanent crops accounted for little over 1.3 million hectares. More recently, by 2014, permanent pastures and meadows had increased to over 80 million hectares, while arable land represented almost 23 million hectares and permanent crops covered some 2.7 million hectares. Finally, in 1961, the cereals market in Mexico utilized 7.7 million hectares of land and yielded 8.5 million metric tons annually. Meanwhile, in 2014, the country devoted almost 10.2 million hectares of land to cereals production and yielded over 36.5 million metric tons.