Avocado in the United States: Who supplements the supply during the overlap of Mexican harvests?
While Mexico maintains its leadership in the U.S. avocado market, California is consolidating its position as the main complementary source during the transition between harvests. Avobook data also shows a later entry of Peruvian suppliers and a sharp drop in shipments from Colombia compared to 2025.
At this time of year, a transition begins between the end of Mexico's main season and the one that follows. Although Mexico remains the largest supplier of avocados to the United States, the volume declines resulting from this transition have become less pronounced each year. Therefore, the challenge for other origins is to see who can fill the gaps in production that temporarily arise in the volumes that complement the Mexican fruit.
Avobook's figures show that these variations in shipments to the United States have been noticeable since week 16, when a weekly decrease became more evident. However, week 21 saw a temporary recovery, with the curve resuming its slight downward trend the following week.
Mexican avocados without significant declines during their seasonal transition
However, the "valley" caused by the seasonal transition is becoming less noticeable. Avobook CEO Sebastián de la Cuadra explains that "Mexico has maintained good volumes and is expecting a season as good as the last."
“In previous years, between the end of one harvest and the beginning of a new one, there was a drop in production, which won't happen in those terms this year. Therefore, the interesting thing is to see who will be positioned between Mexico and the other players. And what we see is that Peru will continue to grow in volume and California will maintain a very good harvest,” the specialist points out.
Tomás de la Cuadra, market analyst at Avobook, explains that, regularly, these seasonal drops have occurred in very short periods, starting in week 20, but becoming more evident between weeks 25 and 26, which is when other players see opportunities to take care of that small "delta" that Mexico leaves in the volume of fruit.
California avocado gains prominence as a key complement to the Mexican offering
Avocado shipment records to the United States, compiled by Avobook (LINK TO REPORT) , show an interesting difference in the behavior of fruit suppliers other than Mexico. Tomás de la Cuadra explains that the local supply from California has shown significant strength in the records of the last 12 weeks.
“In 2025, we saw a higher volume from Colombia and Peru compared to this year. In the last three weeks, we've seen more participation from Peru, but California is acting as the main supplier after Mexico, unlike in 2025, when it seemed a bit more balanced, reaching this point in recent weeks,” the analyst explains.
Excluding Mexico, which remains the main source in the United States, there are fewer fruit shipments than last year, taking week 23 as a reference. Last year there were a little over 700 shipments, while this year there are fewer than 600.
Later arrival of Peruvian avocados in the United States
Another interesting fact is Peru's later entry into the market. In 2025, Peruvian avocado shipments began to become more visible in week 13. By week 2, they had caught up with California. However, in 2026, Peru still lagged far behind Californian avocados, which remained the dominant exporter after Mexico.
Colombia's exports, meanwhile, are significantly lower than last year's figures. In fact, the total shipments between weeks 12 and 23 of this year are no greater than those shipped in week 23 of 2025 alone.
Through week 23, the gap between California and Peru for second place was much wider than last year's ranking of avocado suppliers in the United States.
