News / Mexican avocado shipments a soft target for drug cartels

ID 115316884 © Francisco Valenzuela | Dreamstime.com

A surge in demand for avocados from the world’s largest production market, Mexico, has the potential to turn the food into the latest conflict commodity, according to new analysis from supply chain risk consultancy Verisk Maplecroft.

Mexico remains the largest avocado producer in the world, accounting for 34% of global volumes, but in the state of Michoacán, where exports last year were worth $2.4bn, the supply chain has become compromised by the involvement of drug cartels.

“From cultivation through to transportation, violence ...