Total U.S. fruit imports rose by 9 percent last February compared to February 2020 and were largely driven by fresh berries.
USDA figures show the growth in fruit imports – which includes fresh, frozen, processed and juice – at $2 billion, came amid strong increases in fresh strawberries and blueberries and was partially offset by a big drop in avocado imports.
Strawberries rose by 23 percent to $208 million, with Mexico supplying almost all the volumes.
Imports of conventional blueberries saw an increase of 63 percent to $140 million, with the U.S.’s three main supplying countries all showing big increases. Imports from Chile rose by 33 percent to $75 million, and from Mexico and Peru they slightly more than doubled to $52 million and $13 million respectively.
Organic blueberry imports also showed significant growth, rising by 69 percent to $61 million.
The two other berry categories also performed well. Raspberry imports grew by 30 percent to 90 million, while blackberry imports rose by 9 percent to 44 million. In both cases, Mexico was virtually the sole supplier.
Other double-digit increases came in mango and pineapple imports, which rose by 21 and 19 percent respectively to total $48 million each. Limes also rose by 73 percent to $45 million.
There was a significant drop in avocado imports, which fell by 22 percent to 174 million, with almost all supplies coming from Mexico. Table grape imports saw a small drop of 4 percent to $288 million, with the decrease driven by Chile and partially offset by growth from Peru.
Outside of the fresh fruits, total U.S. fruit imports were also spurred on by a 29 percent increase in fruit juices to $182 million and a 31 percent rise in frozen fruit to $94 million.
The fruit import rise in February follows a slower month in January when imports saw a slight dip of percent, USDA data shows.
In 2020, U.S. fruit import growth ground to a halt.