Mexico’s influence in the global broccoli and cauliflower market

From 2016 to 2020 Mexico positioned itself as the world’s second largest exporter of broccoli and cauliflower, with a 19.2 percent share of the world market, only behind Spain, as reported by Contra Replica.

From 2016 to 2020, the average export of cauliflower and broccoli was 259,000 tons, the U.S. was the main destination with 97.3 percent of the volume, followed by Canada with 2.3 percent and Japan 0.3 percent.

According to data from the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, in that period, the average production of these vegetables was 28.2 million tons, with an Average Annual Growth Rate (AGR) of 1.2 percent.

In 2021, broccoli production reached 596,000 tons, 13,000 more (2.2 percent) than in 2020. Meanwhile, cauliflower maintained its production volume around 100,000 tons. From 2016 to 2020, Mexico produced an average of 680,000 tons of broccoli and cauliflower.

Guanajuato was the main producer of broccoli and cauliflower in that period, with a 61 percent share. The municipalities of Dolores Hidalgo, Valle de Santiago and San Luis de la Paz, made the main contributions with 11.9, 10.2 and 8.6 percent of production, respectively.

Puebla, the second largest national producer, contributed 9.4 percent, with the municipalities of Palmar de Bravo, Quecholac and Los Reyes de Juárez stood out as the main producers.

Broccoli is available throughout the year in Mexico, although the largest harvests occur at the end of the spring-summer cycle (March and April), as well as at the end of autumn (August and September).

For its part, cauliflower is grown all year round, with higher production in April, as well as from August to October.

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