Mexican and U.S. Avocado Growers and Importers Break Ground on Casa APEAM

 A new joint venture between Mexican and U.S. avocado growers and importers has broken ground on Casa APEAM. The Producers and Packers/Exporters of Avocado of Mexico (APEAM) are investing $12 million for the Project, which will house the corporate offices of APEAM, the local offices of the Mexican Department of Agriculture and Agrarian Development (Sader), the USDA offices in Mexico and a research and development avocado orchard, which will be used to improve production through technology.

According to APEAM, since 1997, avocados from the Michoacán region have been the only ones certified by USDA to be exported to the U.S. "The objective of Casa APEAM is to provide a central location to improve the development and sustainability of Mexican avocado exports," said APEAM President Gabriel Villaseñor.

In partnership with the Mexican Hass Avocado Importers Association (MHAIA), APEAM has greatly contributed to increasing Mexican avocado consumption in the U.S., as well as promoting the well-being of Michoacán producers and packers, through the brand Avocados From Mexico (AFM), its marketing arm in the U.S.

To celebrate the groundbreaking of Casa APEAM, avocado growers and packers gathered prominent local, state, federal and international figures, including the Governor of Michoacán, Silvano Aureoles Conejo, the Municipal President of Uruapan, Manuel Manríquez González and Mike Browne, president of MHAIA in the U.S.

"I am proud of our industry and offer thanks to all the producers and packers who work together day-by-day,” said Villaseñor, who recognized the effort of those who helped form APEAM and carry out the work to benefit more than 37,000 workers throughout Mexico.

“During the 1960s and 1970s, people in my native U.S. state, New York, didn’t know about the existence of avocados or what to do with them, but all that’s changed thanks to the work of APEAM, MHAIA, and AFM – everyone, everywhere knows and loves avocados now,” said Mike Browne, president of the Board of MHAIA. “Casa APEAM will now be the epicenter of collaboration of all avocado producers to gather and improve market planning, development, and the business environment for all the stakeholders of the Mexican avocado,” he said.

In 2013, MHAIA and APEAM joined forces to create Avocados From Mexico with the sole objective to promote the consumption of Mexican avocados in the U.S. Currently, nearly 80 percent of the more than two billion pounds of avocados in the U.S. are Mexican avocados. In 2017, U.S. imports of Mexican avocados generated $5.5 billion in economic output, $3.4 billion for the U.S. GDP, $1.9 billion in labor income, $932 million in taxes and 28,251 jobs for American workers (Mexican Hass Avocado Importers Association (MHAIA), n.d.).