Mexico: Pepper exports are about to surpass avocado exports

Mexican pepper exports are on the verge of becoming the country's second biggest agricultural export…

Mexican pepper exports are on the verge of becoming the country's second biggest agricultural export outranking avocados as the added value of exports between January and June 2016 amounted to $760 million dollars, only 6 million dollars less than avocado exports.

Compared with the same period in 2015, pepper exports increased by 34.38 percent while avocado exports fell 8.27 percent, according to data from the Bank of Mexico.

In addition to the product quality achieved by Mexican producers, peppers are assisted in the United States, where 99 percent of exports are destined, because their color allows people to give their dishes an aesthetic value, stated Carlos Vazquez Mellado, director of TerraCrops, a company that produces peppers in Atlixco, Puebla.

"It is sweet, but not spicy and it is mainly used as a garnish, it is a complement for salads and blends food flavors well," said Vazquez. "They are recognized as high-value vegetables," he said.

In the last 15 years consumption per capita in the United States went from 3.4 to almost 5 kilos, according to Statista site.

Tomatoes continue to be the country's biggest agricultural export product, with $1.147.000 dollars, 19.18 percent more than in the first half of 2015.