Global Perspectives and Handlers Report - Spain Steadily Growing Volume As It Gains Access to U.S. Market - Record Numbers Could be on the Horizon

Aug 27, 2026

Report-style coverage of the avocado trade and industry outlook, highlighting Spain’s steady production growth and its renewed ability to ship quarantine-pest-certified fruit to the United States, alongside detailed notes on varietal shifts toward Hass dominance, key regional production areas, and constraints such as irrigation infrastructure. It also presents market expectations for California avocados, including potential record prices, factors limiting supply, and the likelihood that demand may outpace available volumes as the season progresses.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryResearch & Report

FormatPDF

Pages2

Reading Time5 min

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Spain Steadily Growing Volume As It Gains Access to U.S. Market

Production trends and varietal mix

Market access, volumes, and constraints

Record Numbers Could be on the Horizon

Expected prices and supply outlook

Consumption demand and late-summer pressure

Global | Perspectives By Tim Linden
Spain Steadily Growing Volume As It Gains Access to U.S. Market | | | | --- | --- | --- | | Spain’s avocado production,
which dates back about 60
years, reached its modern peak in 1997 with a total output of about 60,000 tons. Production did decline after that, though now it appears tobe on the rise again. And in early January, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) announced that fruit from mainland Spain that has been certified free of all quarantine pests is allowed to be shipped to the United States.
However, don’t expect an onslaught of shipments as the USDA announced that about 260 tons (520,000 pounds) of Spanish avocados may come into the United States this year.
Enrique Coliles, general manager of TROPS, a 1500 member grower association involved in mangos and avocados, recently shared information about Spain’s avocado industry with From the Grove. TROPS, which handles about 30 percent of Spain’s avocado production, is located in Velez-Malaga, a city in the south of Spain in the province of Malaga in the Andalusian region of Spain. Perhaps Granada is the most famous city in that region. Almost 90 percent of Spain’s avocado production comes from that region, which stretches from Portugal to the east through the Straits of Gibraltar and encompasses almost all of the southern coastal region of Spain that touches the Mediterranean.
Coliles said that in the 1990s about 30 percent of Spain’s crop was made up of green skin varieties, | while 70 percent was Hass. Over the last 15 years, Spanish growers have been pulling out their green skin acreage and he said the Hass variety now makes up about 87 percent of total production.
He reported that annual Hass production is typically between 35,000 and 50,000 tons. A grower organization in Malaga has estimated this year’s crop at 40,000 tons. Coliles said the European Union is the top market for Spanish avocados as those countries take about half of Spain’s production.
Coliles pegged Europe’s avocado consumption at about 700 grams per year, which equals about a pound and a half per person. “Surprisingly,”he said, “Spain, the only avocado grower in EU, only consumes 500 grams per habitant.”
He added that the “companies in Spain are developing themselves as service suppliers, importing fruit for | other countries, mainly from South America, and selling it in the rest of the EU, giving it added value with the packaging and ripening services.”TROPS has an import company as well as an avocado processing facility where it makes guacamole for resale.
With regard to Spain’s production, this TROPS executive noted that Spain only produces Hass avocados from the end of November to May. Coliles said green skin varieties are available as early as September but he said market demand for those varieties is lacking and growers must settle for a price that they believe is too low.“I’m not going to say that the growers are happy with the current market price of the green skin. Really not, but we are trying to convince them that the markets demand is only for Hass.”
Just as in California, Coliles said water is the biggest problem facing growers. He said there is much | Spring 2014 / From the Grove / 37 | land with good climatic conditions to produce avocados but it is lacking irrigation infrastructure, which is an impediment for growth. On the other hand, Coliles said Spain’s well-publicized economic problems are forcing some people out of other business sectors and they are exploring agriculture as an option. As a result there are | significant investments being made in establishing irrigation on much newland. He estimated that avocado production could increase as much as 30 percent in coming years.
“It´s not cheap to produce avocados in Spain,” he said. “The land is expensive, but it is a good business in comparison with the rest of the agri- | culture sectors in this area.”
It is estimated that less than 10,000

FAQs

What change allows Spanish avocados to be shipped to the United States?

The USDA announced that mainland Spain fruit certified free of all quarantine pests is allowed to be shipped to the United States.

Why are Spanish avocado growers focused on irrigation improvements?

Water and irrigation infrastructure are described as major constraints, with investments underway to establish irrigation on new land to support growth.

What conditions could lead to record numbers and prices for California avocados?

A short California crop and reduced likelihood of Mexico shipping record volumes are cited, making it possible that demand could exceed supply as the season moves along.

Aug 27, 2026

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