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Tex-Mex Trading: The Rio Grande Valley – Part II: Commodities Coming and Growing

Where bustling border crossings & expanding horizons equal success
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Read Part I
Read Part III

The Valley’s Top Imports
So we know how all the fresh produce is getting into North America from Mexico—but what are the top commodities coming across the border and keeping the Valley’s suppliers hopping? Sources called our attention to a number of fruits and vegetables enjoying a surge in demand.

Camacho points to cucumbers, tomatoes, onions, and avocados as the most requested by consumers. Next, he finds demand for other commodities often depends on ethnicity and region; with some groups (like millennials) more interested in superfoods or fruits and vegetables with higher nutritional values.”

Avocado Action
For most South Texas suppliers, avocados continue to be one of the region’s top imports. DeBerry of the aptly-named Villita Avocados, which specializes in importing the fruit from the Mexican state of Michoacán, says this year’s crop is similar in volume to last year, though he believes there will be “some seasonal dips in availability if demand continues to increase.”

Last year’s El Niño patterns produced ideal growing weather, creating a bumper crop with “a larger than normal increase in size and supply,” DeBerry notes, “but this year is shaping up to be a normal year with more even distribution in sizing of the fruit.”

Recently, Villita introduced a new poly-mesh gusseted bag for its avocados, which has been well received at the retail level. DeBerry says the new bags are a step up for two reasons: they provide both “greater visibility and the ability to give consumers more information on the packaging than the standard mesh bag.”

Leaping Limes
Another top commodity from Mexico is limes, which have continued to climb in demand with North American chefs and consumers. Although Ruiz Sales imports mangos, avocados, tomatoes, and all varieties of bell peppers, the Persian lime is the distributor’s top seller and primary focus. Another lime, the Key or Mexican lime, is also starting to gain a foothold too.

“Although it’s not a secret in Mexico, the Key lime is not as well known in the United States,” says Ruiz. This is certainly true in some parts of the country, though not in Florida where the distinctively-flavored limes gained popularity as the main ingredient in Key lime pie.

Ruiz describes Key limes as “more tart and acidic than the Persian lime variant.” The fruit generally has a stronger flavor than their Persian counterparts, which Ruiz says “makes them great with meats, especially chicken and beef.” He also believes the importation of Persian limes from Mexico will continue to rise with the climbing Hispanic population throughout the United States, as “more and more people of all ethnicities are introduced to the Persian lime as a key ingredient or additive.”

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