If you’ve been to any grocery store or Mexican restaurant lately, you may have noticed the increased price of avocados, or a complete lack thereof. Don’t be upset, but you might have to abstain from eating guacamole for a while; or you can just pay the increased price for the fruit.
Avocados have been in short supply because of the farmer’s strike in Mexico. Farmers are reportedly not happy with the prices that they receive for a carton of avocados. Cartons usually cost about $40, but now cost over $100. As a result, shipments coming into the United States have decreased by about 60%. To give you an idea of how big of a decrease that is, 13 million pounds were imported over the past week as opposed to the average 40 million pounds that are imported every week.
Avocados have become increasingly popular due to health trends, the popularity of Mexican food, and the fact that more people are realizing how awesome they are. What does this mean for all those people who love the green gold? It means that they will have to either stop eating avocados for several months, or they will have to pay the new hiked-up prices.
Luckily, the strike was recently settled and normal prices (not $3 per avocado) should return around the time of the Super Bowl. Companies project that avocado shipments should be returning back to normal soon to offset the product shortage.
