A new analysis shows U.S. fruit production has fallen 32% and vegetable production 10% since 2010, while fresh fruit and vegetable imports have each grown roughly 70% over the same period. Domestic growers point to higher labor, input, regulatory, and compliance costs as driving factors behind the production decline.
This is a structural story that underpins a lot of the individual commodity-level news that has dominated the industry this year — from Mexican avocado dominance to debates over antidumping duties on strawberries. The data gives a concrete macro frame to those ongoing tensions.
For buyers and category managers, this trend has real sourcing implications: domestic supply for many commodities is becoming structurally smaller, which raises long-term questions about supply security, pricing floors, and the geopolitical risk embedded in import-heavy programs.