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Peaks In The Valley

Trade reaches new heights in the Rio Grande
MS_Peaks in the Valley

Alligator Pears
“Our number-one commodity is fresh Hass avocados from Mexico,” comments Armando Flores, a licensed customs broker with the aptly named Ace Customs Broker, Inc., in Hidalgo. According to the Hass Avocado Board, 93 percent of Hass avocados sold in the United States come from Mexico, with the United States claiming 78 percent of production.

Roger Lucero, in sales for Villita Avocados, Inc. in Pharr, says the company handles only avocados. “We import from Mexico and Peru, and we have growing operations in both locations,” he says.

London Fruit is exploring its options as well, by dabbling in imports from new trade partners, which includes Dominican avocados and mangos from Ecuador. “We’re just this year starting to look into it,” Garcia says.

Short Supply
Unfortunately, due to weather-related crop shortages in Mexico, suppliers had a difficult time sourcing the popular fruit in 2017 and prices climbed. In September, the average wholesale price for a 48-count case of avocados was $83.75, more than double the $34.45 for the same time in 2016, according to the American Restaurant Association.

“In 2017, we did see some shortages for avocados,” concedes Garcia. “Avocado people like to manipulate the market sometimes; sometimes it’s nature and sometimes it’s manmade.”

In Garcia’s opinion, Mother Nature was the biggest issue in 2017—both Texas and Mexico dealt with severe storms and hurricanes, and Mexico suffered earthquakes in Chiapas, Puebla, and Morelos. Each of these events affected the fresh produce supply chain not only last year, but have had serious repercussions for this year’s crops and supply.

In addition to avocados, Garcia says London Fruit’s top commodities are mangos and limes, which come primarily from Mexico. “We finance [operations] there for growing, so some is our product, and some is product growers bring to the packing sheds,” he explains.

Like avocados and other items, once again, “weather really affected the volume of fruit coming in last year,” Garcia says. “Weather contributes a lot to the way trees flower. Mango [supply] fluctuated because of the weather, and it also affected limes.” Since both mangos and limes are popular exports to the United States and supply was hard to come by, prices soared for these commodities.

Ports of Entry
Although Texas is home to numerous trade hubs, the Hidalgo Port of Entry (including the Pharr International Bridge, McAllen-Hidalgo International Bridge, and Anzalduas International Bridge), is a major import/export artery.

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