Innovative certification programme now covers more than 90 per cent of Mexican avocados exported to US
A recently introduced avocado certification scheme has transformed the fate of forests in Mexico by enabling retailers to exclude suppliers sourcing from orchards on recently deforested land, Climate Rights International said today.
Established in 2024 by the Mexican environmental organisation Guardián Forestal with the government of the Mexican state of Michoacán, the Pro-Forest Agriculture (PFA) programme uses satellite imagery, artificial intelligence and geospatial analysis to ensure that avocados destined for major US grocery store chains haven’t contributed to deforestation. Currently, some 80 packhouses, guacamole processors and avocado oil producers in Mexico – representing more than 90 per cent of Mexican avocado exports to the US – are participating in the voluntary system.
“The Mexican avocado industry was until recently associated with rampant deforestation,” said Daniel Wilkinson, senior policy advisor at Climate Rights International. “Now, avocado buyers have a practical tool to screen orchards and make sourcing decisions based on rigorous, science-based monitoring – and they’re using it. The result has been one of the most rapid transformations of an agricultural supply chain we’ve seen in recent years.”
Climate Rights International’s December 2023 report, Unholy Guacamole, documented how avocado production for export to the US has fuelled widespread deforestation and contributed to water scarcity and violence affecting local communities.
Concentrated in the state of Michoacán, Mexico’s avocado producers supply more than 80 per cent of the 3bn tonnes of avocados consumed in the US annually. The suppliers include four leading US sellers – Calavo Growers, Fresh Del Monte Produce, Mission Produce and West Pak Avocado. A 2024 report by Climate Rights International claimed that these companies supplied from orchards on recently deforested land despite corporate sustainability commitments related to deforestation. Those companies now participate in the PFA programme, as do most other companies exporting Mexican avocados to the US.
Companies obtain and maintain voluntary PFA certification by using the monitoring system designed and operated by Guardián Forestal to exclude from their supply chains orchards that have been deforested since 2018 or that have unresolved environmental fines or administrative orders.
Retailers have been a major driver of the programme’s rapid adoption. In 2025, Costco, which operates big box stores throughout the US, committed to reduce deforestation in its avocado supply chain and encourage suppliers to participate in the PFA programme. In May 2026, Sprouts Farmers Market, a supermarket chain headquartered in Phoenix, Arizona, announced that all avocados it sources from Mexico must come from PFA-certified suppliers. Although many retailers and supermarkets have not publicly announced their sourcing policies, demand for PFA certification has expanded rapidly across the industry.
“Retailers have shown they can play a powerful role in protecting forests simply by changing how they buy avocados,” said Heriberto Padilla, director of Guardián Forestal. “As more retailers adopt certified sourcing, the market for avocados linked to recent deforestation will continue to shrink.”
Originally established in Michoacán with the support of the state government, the PFA programme has expanded to cover all six Mexican states with significant avocado production. Today, the Guardián Forestal monitoring system covers more than 53,000 orchards spanning more than 200,000ha.
Certification is not yet universal, however. According to Climate Rights International, producers linked to recent deforestation can still sell into the US market through companies that have not adopted PFA-certified sourcing. In June, more than 50 environmental and food organisations are reported to have urged additional US supermarkets to source avocados only from PFA-certified packhouses.
“What Guardián Forestal and the participating companies have accomplished in less than two years is remarkable,” Wilkinson said. “But the work isn’t finished. Until all major retailers require PFA-certified sourcing, producers linked to recent deforestation will continue to have access to part of the US market.”
