The overwhelming majority of avocados consumed in the U.S. are produced in Mexico. In mid-April the Avocado Institute of Mexico announced its Path to Sustainability plan, which has officially rolled out in the weeks since.
The Path to Sustainability is an organizing plan to integrate and expand existing sustainability efforts across the Mexican avocado industry. It will also establish measurable goals, benchmarks and timelines for those efforts according to the Avocado Institute. The plan encompasses all members of the Association of Avocado Exporting Producers and Packers of Mexico and the Mexican Hass Avocado Importers Association.
The plan focuses on four main priorities — water, biodiversity, climate and deforestation — and addresses them across five interdependent programs:
- Corporate governance for sustainability.
- Sustainable orchards.
- Sustainable packing houses.
- Sustainable distribution and marketing.
- Restoration of biodiversity, forests and watersheds.
“We’ve always addressed some of these sustainability issues that we’ve had in the industry,” said Ana Ambrosi, director of the Avocado Institute. “However, this is the first time the industry has come together with a united vision and a strategic plan to address these issues and make sure we have certainty, commitments and we make progress towards those goals.”
Ambrosi said that sustainability efforts across Mexico’s avocado supply chain — starting with its 35,000-plus avocado growers up through to packers and shippers — have been active for a long time, but not well measured or integrated across the industry.
What eventually became the plan started with a mapping exercise of all current initiatives in the focal areas. Then there was what Ernesto Enkerlin — an environmental consultant with Innovagro who worked with the Avocado Institute of Mexico to develop the strategy — called a “deep dive study” on what the impacts of those current efforts are and where the avocado industry depends on nature to try to determine the scope of what future efforts should be.
“We were trying to make sure that all the previous efforts that we were doing were integrated in this new strategy so that we can really build on the foundation of the work that’s been done before,” Ambrosi said.
Avocado landscape and water sustainability
Both Ambrosi and Enkerlin explained that the plan’s goals are achievable in part due to the unique relationship of the avocado in its natural habitat.
“Michoacan, which is the state that exports the vast majority of avocados into the U.S., is blessed. We call it the magic of Michoacan,” Ambrosi said. The state is lush, receives a lot of rain and has rich soil because of the surrounding volcanoes. It additionally has varied elevations, meaning avocados can be produced year-round. Most importantly, however, it’s where avocados grow naturally.
“Michoacan is part of the origin of the original avocado trees,” Enkerlin said. He called the area the “avocado landscape” and likened its importance to that of the UNESCO World Heritage agave landscape.
Avocado trees being native to Michoacan has big impacts on the water sustainability of the crop, too. But there have been issues in how water sustainability has been measured in the past, according to Enkerlin.
“The previous water footprint studies did not take into account the fact that [avocado] orchards are part of the watershed,” he said. “So, the vision of water needs to take into account that orchards are also providers of some ecosystem services, not only demanders of such. So, when you do this correctly, really the water use per pound of avocados is much less than what was thought before.”
He added that water sustainability is likely to be the biggest challenge in the face of climate change.
“But we are in a very good position, and the fact that 60% of the orchards are rain fed and many of the rest are only receiving supplementary irrigation in the driest part of the year,” he said.
That’s a very good starting point to reach water-neutral avocados, he added, which is one of the goals of the Path to Sustainability.
“The avocado has the potential to be one of the first crops to become water neutral,” Enkerlin said. “We’re shooting for 2035 and it’s going to take a lot of work, but from my past experience I think we are on track to achieve our goals. They are not minor, but they are perfectly achievable.”
Moving forward on the Path
As the plan is effectively a strategic organizing effort, there are still elements to put in place. Ambrosi and Enkerlin explained that exact benchmarks and action items for the various focal areas are still being determined.
“We’re in the process of implementing the strategy and building a road map so that everything is interconnected and makes sense, and we can measure everything and have different KPIs,” Ambrosi said.
But some specific action items are known now. For instance, Enkerlin said that, if avocado orchards sign onto the plan, they agree to keep their orchard grounds covered rather than left bare.
“That contributes to having more water catchment, more infiltration and cleaner water reaching the creeks, rivers and finally the lakes if they drain into inland waterways,” he said.
Ambrosi said the plan also involves a focus on transparency. Milestones will be communicated along the way, with the first comprehensive sustainability report from the plan expected in 2027 ahead of the World Avocado Congress.
Both stressed that the effort will take time.
“We’re talking about 2035, but we’re pretty confident that we will be carbon-, deforestation- and water-neutral,” said Enkerlin. “It’s a challenge, but if one industry can achieve what we’re proposing to do, it’s the avocado industry.”
Ambrosi also pointed out that sustainability is a long-term journey rather than a specific destination.
“But the amazing thing right now is that we’re holding ourselves accountable with very ambitious goals to have a real impact on the environment throughout the supply chain and in the avocado landscape of Mexico. That’s what we’re announcing,” Ambrosi said.
“We’re going out and saying, ‘We’re committed to this. We want to reach these goals and these goals are realistic and attainable and we want to be a leader in terms of sustainability and we’re moving forward on this path.’”
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