Men with canvas sacks scramble up narrow ladders in the deep shade of a hillside avocado grove, harvesting fist-sized fruit for the second time this season. Loreno Islasio loads a bag of Haas avocados in a Fallbrook, Calif., grove, yesterday.
Prices are steady and demand is increasing.
That sentiment is echoing throughout Southern California as growers harvest a bumper crop of avocados in time for celebrations tomorrow of Cinco de Mayo, the Mexican crossover holiday that has become the single largest occasion for consumption of the fruit in the United States. More important, prices are holding steady and demand is increasing even as the industry faces an array of challenges from higher power prices to exotic pests. Driving the demand in part is the nation's growing Hispanic population, up nearly 60 percent in the last decade, and the popularity of Mexican food, which includes guacamole and fresh avocado as an ingredient in many dishes. Between 1992 and 1997, the number at least doubled in non-traditional markets such as Alabama, Iowa, Maine and Montana, according to the National Restaurant Association. The industry also benefits from mainstream appeal.