By Avocado Insight Magazine
March 21, 2025
Atlanta, GA. — In Latino markets and bold kitchens, pacaya, huitlacoche, and chapulines are quietly reshaping America’s palate. These Latin American treasures, oddities to many here, are fueling a vibrant niche with untapped cultural and economic promise.
Mexico’s agro-food exports to the U.S. hit $51 billion in 2023, per the Secretariat of Agriculture and Rural Development. Avocados ($2.5 billion) and tomatoes ($2 billion) lead, but exotics are rising fast. Pacaya, a Guatemalan edible flower, earned $5 million in 2024, and huitlacoche, the «Mexican truffle,» $10 million in 2023, per U.S. Commerce data. Chapulines—Oaxacan grasshoppers packing 62% protein—brought $2 million in 2023; since 2017, the Seattle Mariners have sold them at games, and WBCSD’s Diane Holdorf forecasts a 10% demand surge in five years for their eco-appeal.
Nopales ($15 million in 2024) and yuca ($20 million from Colombia and the Dominican Republic), per USDA, tap into an ethnic boom. With 63 million Latinos in the U.S. in 2023, per the Census, these foods bridge generations. The USDA projects $215.5 billion in agricultural imports by 2025, up 4.1% yearly through 2034. Euromonitor sees the ethnic food market hitting $20 billion by 2030.
Goya Foods, with $1.5 billion in 2023 revenue, dominates with yuca and nopales, while Melissa’s Produce brings fresh pacaya and chapulines. La Preferida and El Mexicano serve immigrants with canned goods, and Frontera Foods, led by chef Rick Bayless, takes chapulines gourmet in chains like Target. The FDA rejected 5% of Latin American shipments in 2023 for sanitary issues, per CEPAL, while USDA monitors pests and trends.
«These flavors are a cultural and economic bridge,» said UNAM’s María López, eyeing 5% annual growth through 2030. CEPAL’s José Manuel Salazar-Xirinachs predicts a 4% export rise in 2024. «Chapulines could lead sustainable eating,» Bayless said in 2024, featuring them on his menu. Educating eaters and navigating rules remain hurdles, but these tastes are remaking U.S. plates, one bite at a time.
Sources: Secretariat of Agriculture and Rural Development, «Agro-food exports break records in 2023,» gob.mx, accessed March 21, 2025. U.S. Department of Commerce, «Preliminary 2024 export data,» commerce.gov, accessed March 20, 2025. USDA, «Agricultural Projections to 2034,» usda.gov, published March 4, 2025. CEPAL, «International Trade Outlook 2024,» cepal.org, accessed March 19, 2025. Euromonitor, «Ethnic Foods Market Outlook 2030,» euromonitor.com, accessed March 20, 2025.
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