Mexican cartel violence could drive up prices of avocados in the US
Get ready to shell out some avoca-dough.
Cartel violence could drive up the price of avocados for Americans after the US Department of Agriculture suspended its inspections of the so-called “green gold” in a Mexican state over security concerns.
Two inspectors employed by the US embassy in Mexico were assaulted in an avocado field in the southwestern Michoacán — the country’s largest avocado producing state — prompting the suspension last month, NBC San Diego and Telemundo 20 reported.
As the demand for the green fruit has skyrocketed in the US over the last few decades, the cartels have expanded their traditional drug and human trafficking business and moved into the avocado industry — which generates between $3 and $5 billion annually in Mexico.
“In the southern part of Mexico the economy is heavily agricultural so it provides key territory for the Narco to actually gain a foothold, if not control, of entire industries in the region,” Dr. Mario Dipp, of Cetys University, told the outlets.
Last week, the US Ambassador to Mexico Ken Salazar said that inspections would gradually resume in the Mexican state, but noted he must first guarantee the safety of the USDA’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service inspectors working in Mexico.
“More work still needs to be done so that the inspectors are safe and can resume inspections and thereby eliminate the impediments to the trade of avocado and mango to the United States from Michoacán,” he said in a statement.
Parties on both sides of the border stand to lose millions of dollars as a result of the inspection suspension, according to the report.
“It’s estimated that the region will lose $7 to $10 million a day while the suspension is active,” Dipp said.
Restaurant owners in the US are worried that an avocado shortage, sparked by the suspensions, could impact the industry.
Lisa Sotelo, owner of Lisa’s Cocina in San Diego, said that she relies on a steady supply of avocados, which she uses to make guacamole for her tacos, burritos and other dishes. If there’s a shortage, she worries that her business will suffer.
“It’s getting scary,” she said.
The USDA first alerted the Avocado Exporting Producers and Packers of Mexico of its decision to suspend new exports out of the western Mexican state in June.
The US previously suspended inspections in Feb. 2022 for about a week when a health and safety inspector received a threatening message.
