The Michoacán avocado certification office has in mid-December 2024 welcomed 100 growers who want to register their orchards before 2025. This is happening four months after the Western Mexico state launched origin certification stamps in August 2024.

According to a news story by Meganoticias (MN), the hundred who sought the certification have already begun the legalization process.

With this substantial number of producers stamping their produce, the state expects total certifications to double by January 2025.

By December 17, there were 60 certified growers already, according to Allejandro Mendez, the local Secretary of Environment.

The licensing process demands 1,000 pesos ($49.02) per hectare from farmers for the survey of their orchads. Mendez ascertains that some 200 pesos ($9.80) per hectare from this kitty will go into the state’s environment fund.

Meeting the certification fee will be easy however since most producers run medium orchards of below 10 hectares, apiece.

The licensing process includes a field survey on the avocado farm to ascertain it is not occupying deforested land.

The producers’ will to obtain legal documentation despite earlier resistance owes to an increasing switch by foreign markets to sustainable avocados.

The United States, for instance, has significant sway in origin matters since it obtains a substantial avocado import cache from Michoacán. 

So important is this single origin that the U.S. routinely sends officers to review the adherence status on export protocols.

In June 2024, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) suspended one such inspection attempt after locals resisted the field tours.

All in all, Michoacán eventually had to toe the line for economic reasons.  Out of the state’s 1.8 million-tonne avocado production capacity, 1.2 million tonnes end up in the U.S.

It is also true that 73% to 74% of the avocado harvest in Mexico comes from this state. It also qualifies as one of only two Mexican states that can legally export avocados to the American market.

If all of the state becomes certified, it will thus ensure huddle-free export of the much-loved Mexican guacamole avocado. And as the resource below reveals, the state’s avocado exports saturate the American market. 

Michoacán Avocado Export Statistics

Of the 2,652,501 tonnes of avocados that Mexico produced in 2023, 73% came from Michoacán. Out of this national total, 1,400,000 tonnes ended up in export markets, representing more than half of all production. According to USDA, the United States accounts for 81% of all Mexican avocado exports, with the rest bound for Japan, Canada and Spain. 

How much does Michoacán contribute to U.S. avocado imports? 

Since only two Mexican states can export avocados to the U.S., the other being Jalisco, Michoacán contributes almost all avocados from Mexico in the U.S.  In 2023, the state shipped 1,400,000 tonnes out of its 1,800,000-tonne harvest. With its 73% of national avocado production and Jalisco 12%, as of 2023, this means it had the lion’s share of American-bound exports. 

How many avocado export packing bases are there in Michoacán? 

As of February 2024, the western Mexico state had 58 packing stations, all aimed at exports to the United States. Jalisco, meanwhile, had 11 packing stations.