As everyone in the avocado industry knows, Mexico is by far the world's leading avocado producer, with harvests averaging 2.5 million tons per year. Given these enormous annual harvest volumes and the resulting large quantity of second- and third-grade avocados, one might conclude that avocado prices in Mexico are very low. However, this is not the case. Prices for this type of fruit in Mexico average around one dollar per kilogram (delivered to processing plants), reaching peaks in some months of up to $2.00 to $2.25 USD per kilogram. These prices and returns to farmers would not be possible without strong domestic consumption and high demand for the fruit from a well-established processing industry that has been exporting its products to various destinations in North America, Asia, and Europe for over three decades.

The avocado processing industry in Mexico emerged in the late 1980s and early 1990s as a way to export Mexican avocados to the United States market, which at that time had imposed a non-tariff barrier on the fruit. While Mexico had a very strong domestic market and some exports to Europe and Asia, the prices Mexican avocado producers received for their non-export-grade fruit were very low, commonly between $0.20 and $0.25 USD per kilo. It was the opening of Mexican avocado exports to the United States, combined with domestic consumption and a large processing industry, that allowed second- and third-grade avocados to reach the prices and returns that Mexican producers currently enjoy.

For any type of crop to be profitable for the producer, it is crucial that there be strong demand for their product, both for their premium fruit and for all the other fruit that is not suitable for export. And this is precisely what the industrialization of avocados does: it achieves better prices and returns for the farmers for fruit that would otherwise be unsuitable for export and, in many cases, not even suitable for domestic consumption; either due to a lack of local market or because the processed fruit is often of lower quality than what the local consumer demands.

The industrialization of avocados is a great complement to the marketing and promotion of fresh avocados, since processed products, far from competing with fresh avocados, reach markets that otherwise could not be supplied due to logistical issues, reaching more consumers who, without this industry, would not be able to enjoy the great flavor and nutritional content that this fruit offers. Therefore, to have a complete and profitable avocado industry for the agricultural sector, a fruit processing industry is essential.