Ricardo Vega López, CEO of Frutícola Velo, warns that the success of Mexican avocados could be jeopardized if new global sustainability demands are not addressed urgently. He proposes a roadmap to confront non-tariff barriers that could limit market access.

Mexican avocados have won over palates worldwide, particularly in the United States, the world's largest consumer market and by far the most important for the Mexican industry. However, there are challenges that must be addressed promptly to avoid setbacks due to risks not assessed in advance.

This is the warning from Ricardo Vega López, general manager of Frutícola Velo and part of a family with more than half a century in the business, who believes that this same success could become their greatest weakness.

“When things are going well, human beings naturally tend to rest on their laurels. You start enjoying the current success and sometimes we lack the ability to see what threats are coming in the medium and long term,” he reflects, focusing on non-tariff barriers that could limit markets.

These barriers include requirements related to plant health, pesticide residues, and especially environmental sustainability.

“It’s true that governments are implementing these measures, often adapting them to their own contexts. But, on the other hand, consumers are also paying attention to issues they didn’t before,” Vega López points out. Among the challenges the Mexican avocado industry will have to address, she explains, “are the sustainable use of water, the carbon footprint, deforestation, and the dignified and humane treatment of those of us who participate in the production chain. All of them are extremely important.”

Although Mexico has not yet felt the regulatory pressure with the intensity of countries like Chile, where these issues jeopardized production, Vega acknowledges that the landscape is changing rapidly.

“In the next four or five years, they could push many companies, many producers, or even many countries out of the market if we don't start working on them,” he points out.

Prepare or be left behind

Faced with this situation, Vega acknowledges that there was an awakening in the sector: “Fortunately, here about 4 or 5 years ago, APEAM started with these issues and began to work very hard with the producers, with the packers, to the point that avocado in Mexico is the only agro-industry that for 10 years has had full social security for the vast majority of agricultural workers.”

The government, he assures, has also done its part: “In the last 5 or 6 years, the Mexican government has also stepped up its efforts considerably. They have even made several legal reforms to encourage those who fell behind in these programs, for various reasons, to now participate by law.”

For Vega López, making progress in these areas is not only a regulatory imperative, but also an ethical and economic duty.

“We all need to be part of a formal economy where the benefits of this very valuable crop reach the entire population. The actors we constantly talk about are the producer, the exporter, the State as a regulatory body, the importers, and so on; and sometimes we forget a little about all the services that are involved,” he tells Avobook.

In this context, training emerges as the first major challenge. “You can’t implement something you don’t know. So training is a crucial issue,” he emphasizes. He also mentions the urgent need to develop technical projects that improve water use and reforestation, always in collaboration with the authorities: “If the government isn’t involved, then progress toward achieving these goals is much slower.”

The powerful Mexican avocado industry has a clear path to success in competing with other origins. But it knows it will have to compete not only on quality and volume, but also on sustainability.