Driven by a historic supply surge out of Mexico, avocado grower-packer-shipper GLC Cerritos has doubled its year-over-year shipments, leveraging field-team expansions and new bagging technology to meet a booming U.S. demand that has pushed weekly industry volumes to a “new normal” of 65 million to 70 million pounds.
Bountiful rains in Mexico coupled with new acreage have allowed the country to avoid supply gaps for nearly two years, and this week it will hit 2.5 billion pounds of avocados exported to the U.S. in a single season for the first time ever, according to GLC Cerritos. This surpasses the record set in 2023, and there are still five weeks left in the season.
While the company says crossings have slowed in recent weeks, May shipments remain nearly 30% greater than those in 2025.
GLC Cerritos has added efficiencies to keep up with the record supply and sky-high demand.
“Increases to the field team for sourcing and increases in bagging machines for operations have allowed GLC Cerritos to double shipments [this season] versus last season,” says Sophia Cavaletto of GLC Cerritos.
Cavaletto says the 37% increase in high-quality Mexican avocado shipments since January 2026 creates new users, with Americans consuming nearly 20% more fruit this year than ever before.
“The increased volume has been driven from the supply side,” says Cavaletto. “This has been an ‘on’ year for avocado production. Traditionally ‘on’ years have been identified with lower-than-normal pricing. The upside is that new users are created during the ‘on’ years. Historically, once we create new users, the industry does not lose them when the heavy volume weeks subside. This has resulted in a ‘stickiness’ or permanent shift in the new users continuing to buy avocados.”
Jalisco to Play Key Role
As GLC Cerritos looks forward to the 2026-27 season, which begins in just a few weeks, it says the Jalisco region will play a key role in keeping Mexico an even more important year-round avocado supplier.
“Avocados in Jalisco are grown in a little warmer and drier climate than those in Michoacan,” says Cavaletto. “Nearly 50% of the orchards are made up of Mendez hass, which is genetically identical to hass but sets fruit up two months earlier. As a result, ... Jalisco tends to be able to supply new-crop avocados four to six weeks earlier than Mexico was able to before Jalisco was added.”
Dry Matter Matters
To ensure every avocado coming from Mexico satisfies consumer expectations of flavor, consistency and color, Mexican avocados go through a quality control process called dry-matter testing. The Avocado Institute of Mexico says the key to procuring avocados with delicious taste and optimal consistency is in the fruit’s oil content.
GLC Cerritos says dry-matter standards established by the Association of Avocado Exporting Producers and Packers of Mexico, or APEAM, will ensure quality standards through the seasonal transition.
“With 35,000 independent growers, Mexico has to jealously protect its reputation for quality in the market,” says Cavaletto. “As such, strict protocols in harvest permit issuances are key. Growers must pass multiple tests to show that their grove has sufficient dry matter before obtaining a harvest permit. After harvesting, the fruit is subject to a final test at the packinghouse. If the fruit does not pass any single of these tests, it is not allowed to be shipped to the [United] States.”
Standing Out With Sustainability
While bountiful rains and new acreage in Mexico have allowed GLC Cerritos and others to avoid avocado supply gaps for nearly two years, the agricultural sector is increasingly vulnerable to extreme weather shifts.
GLC Cerritos is mitigating these long-term climate risks to ensure that a bad weather cycle won’t abruptly reverse these record-breaking volume trends.
“Continuous improvement is part of the culture at GLC Cerritos,” says Cavaletto. “Being at the vanguard of farming techniques allows the team to have up to three times the productivity and a larger size curve than the national average. Farmers cannot be passive in today’s competitive environment. Attention to pollinators, tree density, pruning, fertigation are all key to this culture of continuous improvement.”
GLC Cerritos further differentiates itself through its commitment to sustainability and certifications including GlobalG.A.P., the Rainforest Alliance and Fair Trade.
“Volume, quality and reliability are all nonnegotiables,” Cavaletto says. “Jalisco has only had access to the U.S. market since 2022. Aside from the baselines of food safety, environmental stewardship and social responsibility, these certificates help to add a level of confidence and reliability that the supplier is professional in all aspects of their business.”
GLC Cerritos says its teams are highly trained for ladder harvesting and that it actively supervises every harvest to ensure the highest quality in the operation.
