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Comment by hatchnyc | Hacker News Reader

Mexican avocados were banned from import to the United States for over 80 years until 1997. Before that, the supply of avocados from California was seasonal and limited which discouraged restaurants from putting them on their menu and generally kept them more a novelty. Ironically, having a strong consistent supply increased demand. Also, Mexican avocados are generally far superior to those from California.

I remember avocados from the 90s as being rock hard and mostly flavorless. Perhaps they were better locally, but I never had a tasty, buttery soft avocado until the 2000s.

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I couldn't disagree more! I won't buy an avocado with a label from Mexico or Chile because they are so watery / flavorless. I also happen to live in Carpinteria, CA, where our local avo's are second to none.

Local fresh avocados in Mexico are excellent. Same goes for tomatoes, strawberries, mangos, etc.

You can’t reasonably compare unripe produce transported from 1500 miles away with fresh ripe local produce.

Avocados exported from California to the East Coast can also end up mediocre.

Perhaps they don't export the good ones, I've enjoyed very much going to the markets in Mexico and asking for avocados for eating today and also slightly less ready ones that will be perfect tomorrow. The fruit sellers know exactly what to give you, they are perfect every time. A splash of lime juice and chili powder.. True culinary happiness.

Like many fruits and vegetables, I’m guessing quality has to do with how early it has to be picked before the ideal picking time in order to transit to the destination.

Almost all fruits and vegetables in the US taste better on the US West coast, in my opinion, and I suspect it’s because you’re closer to the origin (Cali/Mexico/WA/OR/the rest of Central and South America) so the fruit/vegetables take less time in transit and therefore don’t have to be picked so early.

Avocados don’t ripen on the tree (although they will drop eventually). So there isn’t so much early harvesting as long as the size is about right.

Avocado also varies based on weather and age of the tree.

Oh man yeah avocados from that particular area so good. I grew up in Ojai and ones grown in the area were miles ahead of anything the stores sell.

I also cringe when I see people pressing their thumbs into them at the store.

That's because they're harvested early for transport. Left on the tree two weeks longer, the fat content goes up and they're far tastier.

Water avocado vs fatty avocado are different kinds

> having a strong consistent supply increased demand

This is a very pronounced effect across all sectors of the economy. It's really not that surprising. It's similar to the old traffic engineering adage that expanding highways expands traffic in equal measure - such that it is often futile to add extra lanes to existing congested roads.

When something becomes cheaper/easier to use, demand often rises to the point that the new equilibrium is similar to the old one, as new opportunities open up to use X product that were previously unexplored due to constrained supply

I had no idea! Here’s a 1997 article on the ban being lifted:

https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1997-02-01-fi-24310-...

Is this something that would have indirectly affected Canada? I don't remember avocados being a thing here in the 90s.

> Mexican avocados are generally far superior to those from California

Maybe that's true for the ones shipped eastward.

Here in the SF bay area, I find California Hass avocados are superior to those available from Mexico and Peru. They're easy to peel and the flavor is fantastic.

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