Growth of US fruit imports stalls
Overall imports of fresh, frozen and processed fruit rose by less than 1% Y-O-Y to US$19.9 billion in 2020. This contrasts with the significant annual growth recorded by the category since 2010, when imports were as low as US$10.4 billion.
There were falls in imports of avocados (-12% to $2.3 billion), bananas (-2% to $1.9 billion), blueberries (-5% to $982 million), strawberries (-2% to $819 million), and apples (-18% to $110 million). Citrus imports rose by 11% to $1.4 billion, driven mainly by growth in mandarins and oranges. Table grape imports were also up, +4% to $1.7 billion, In terms of sources, shipments from Mexico and Chile were both down 3%, to $8.2 billion and $1.9 billion, respectively, while fruit imports from Guatemala fell by 2% to $1.9 billion. By contrast, Peru registered a 17% increase in shipments to the US ($1.7 billion), and imports from Costa Rica climbed 2% to $1.1 billion.