Guatemala gearing up to export avocados to US despite tariffs and delays

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SAN MIGUEL DUENAS, Guatemala (AP) — Standing outside a massive new avocado packing plant recently and with the U.S. ambassador in attendance, Guatemala President Bernardo Arevalo connected the high-demand fruit with rural development and said the facility signaled a new chapter in the trajectory of the cash crop.

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But six months after the United States gave a green light to import avocados from Guatemala, the Central American country has yet to send any of the fruit north. Still, expectations are running high.

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For decades, Mexico has been the main source of imported avocados to the U.S. along with small amounts from a few South American nations. Guatemala expects to similarly begin small, but hopes to seize on its proximity and experience exporting to Europe to rapidly expand and meet the increasing U.S. demand.

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“Right now there are 17,300 acres (7,000 hectares) planted with the fruit, but in the next 10 years it could reach nearly 75,000 acres (30,000 hectares),” said Francis Bruderer, president of the Guatemala Avocado Producers Association.

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When the U.S. announced the import permission last November, Guatemala’s agricultural ministry estimated that the country could initially send 1,700 tons to the U.S., but reach 15,000 tons by 2030. It’s unclear how those expectations could be affected by a 10% tariff that U.S President Donald Trump announced this month on dozens of trade partners, including Guatemala.

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Standing in his own avocado orchard with the fruit individually bagged on the trees to protect from pests, Bruderer said that more and more avocado trees are being planted each year and now trail only rubber and African palm trees in land coverage.

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The new avocado packing facility, complete with its own heliport, sits at the end of a dirt road. When it opens in August it is expected to employ hundreds in Barberena about an 1 1/2-hour drive south of the capital and surrounding areas.

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It was built by California-based Mission Produce, one of the world’s largest avocado suppliers.

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“Guatemala is an emerging power in the international avocado industry, and Mission Produce leads the region’s development for worldwide avocado production,” said Juan Rodolfo Wiesner, Mission Produce’s president for South and Central America.

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The company’s executive director, Steve Barnard, said it was a “strategic investment” to reinforce the company’s position as a world leader in avocados.