Mexico broke its own growth record for tomato exports in 2020, and the positive trend continued into the first quarter.

Last year saw a 20.6% increase on the previous year, bringing in US $2.6 billion.

The first three months of 2021 marked 5.1% annual growth, with exports valued at $830 million.

In terms of volume, tomato exports suffered a 1.6% annual contraction in 2020 at 1.82 million tonnes. That rebounded in the first quarter this year with a 9.2% annual increase to 579,000 tonnes.

Mexico specializes in the production of greenhouse tomatoes, which has grown rapidly as an industry in North America over the last two decades.

The growing area of greenhouse tomatoes in Mexico is greater than that of Canada and the United States combined, and it is responsible for 57% of greenhouse vegetable sales on the continent.

Source: Opportimes (sp)