Holy Guacamole!
Texas imports a large amount of avocados from Mexico every year. In 2021/22, the United States imported 1.1 million metric tons of avocados from Mexico, with Texas through its land ports estimated to import about 1.08 million metric tons of avocados from Mexico in 2021/2.
According to the Hass Avocado Board, Texas is also one of the top consumers of avocados in the United States, along with California, New York, and Florida. In 2019, Texas consumed about 240 million pounds of avocados, which is equivalent to about 60 million pounds of guacamole, assuming that one pound of guacamole requires four avocados.
According to a survey by the National Restaurant Association, guacamole is one of the most popular dips in the United States, especially among millennials and Hispanics. Guacamole is also a staple of Tex-Mex cuisine, which is a fusion of Mexican and American food that originated in Texas. Guacamole is often served with tortilla chips, tacos, burritos, nachos, and other dishes.
Our success story is of a Texas-based guacamole producer, whose long-standing avocado supplier had an avocado seed weevil issue with their crop, and as the USA only imports from Michoacan, the only state in Mexico authorized to export avocados to the US, this left our client in a predicament.
The supplier suggested importing from a neighboring farm, which had not been infested and should comply with the rigorous inspection and certification process of the USDA that all avocado imports from Mexico undergo.
The USDA inspections and certification process includes: The avocados must be grown in approved orchards, packed in registered packinghouses, and treated with a post-harvest fungicide. The avocados must also be free of stems, leaves, and other plant debris. The USDA inspectors monitor the compliance of these requirements and verify the phytosanitary certificates of the shipments.
Our client needed visual confirmation of the documentation and the quality and size of the shipments, including the sizing of the avocados and the ripeness stage confirmation.
Through Inspexion.com’s unique marketplace, our client could locate a local inspector with the necessary qualifications, after a brief workshop with one of our customer support agents and an operational team manager, the inspection brief was finalized and sent to the inspector, with inspection specifics provided by the client.
The inspection took place the next day, with the capture of all necessary documentation and photos of the orchards, the packing houses, and the post-harvest fungicide treatments before packing.
The avos were randomly tested by selecting a sample of avocados from a batch and measuring their dry matter content which is an indicator of their oil content and ripeness. The dry matter content was measured by using a simple method that involved peeling, slicing, weighing, and microwaving the avocados, and then calculating the percentage of weight loss after drying.
This indicator was specifically requested as our client needed to know the quality and maturity of the avocados to ensure that they meet their expectations of flavor, texture, and color.
The test concluded that the avocados were to the specifications needed and were shipped to the guacamole plant the following day, making it in time to never halt production.
If you need confirmation of any commodity before shipment Inspexion.com is the quickest way to get an inspection professional to an inspection site site.
If you need more information on avocado commodity inspections please follow this link: https://inspexion.com/lp-agricultural-commodities-avocado
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