Exports for 2024 were valued at US$570.3mn, making the category the country’s third most valuable fresh fruit export
Data from the US Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) Economic Research Service has outlined the success of the country’s strawberry export business in 2024.
In its Fruit and Tree Nuts Outlook, the report showed that fresh strawberry export volumes increased 20 per cent year-over-year to 351.5mn pounds – the highest on record.
Those exports were valued at US$570.3mn, making strawberries the third most valuable fresh fruit export behind apples and grapes and ahead of oranges and cherries.
Canada was the top export destination, although the USDA pointed out that the share and volume of domestic supplies destined for Mexico both increased in recent years.
Processed strawberry exports made up about 8 per cent of exports by value.
In terms of imports, the volume of US fresh strawberry imports dropped by less than 1 per cent year-over-year to 585.4mn pounds.
The USDA said this broke a five-year streak of increasing import volumes, but was still near 2023’s record high of 588.6mn pounds.
Fresh strawberry imports in 2024 were valued at US$1.17bn.
Mexico supplied 98 per cent of fresh strawberry import volumes to the US on average (2022–2024), with more than half of that volume entering the US during the first three months of the year when domestic supplies were lower.
