Where Does Costco Get Its Avocados From?

Knowing where your food comes from can help you prioritize local sourcing and give you a sense of how long your produce has been in transport. It's also a smart piece of information to have in today's world of frequent food recalls (especially when it comes to fresh produce). We took a look at where avocados are shipped from before shoppers pick them up in the produce section of their local Costco. According to Costco's website, it looks like there are a few different possible answers. The warehouse club sources avocados from several countries, including New Zealand, Chile, Peru, Mexico, and the United States.

To see an avocado's country of origin at Costco, you can check the sticker on the individual avocado, if it has one. (Sometimes, if avocados are being sold in bulk, they won't have individual stickers.) You can also look at the sign directly above the avocados at Costco, as some shoppers say they've noticed the country of origin is noted on the sign. If both of these methods fail you, you can look at the boxes or bags holding the avocados to see if a country of origin is indicated. According to Costco customers on social media, there are some significant differences in avocados purchased from the warehouse store depending on which countries they've been sourced from.

While you can certainly get a great avocado from any growing region, some fans of the fruit (yes, avocados are technically considered fruit) have a serious preference when it comes to the homeland of their avocados. For example, many avocado aficionados say that the Mexican version is strikingly different from other varieties. Some Costco shoppers on social media have mentioned that avocados shipped to the retailer from Mexico and California are of higher quality than those from Peru, Chile, and New Zealand. Shoppers also say that you don't know what you're going to get when you walk into the produce section of Costco — sometimes, avocados will be sourced from one region, then the next week, the supply will be sourced from elsewhere.

Some have mentioned that generally, regardless of where they're sourced, avocados from Costco tend to take forever to ripen (if you need yours to ripen fast, you can always try placing your avocados in a paper bag full of fruit). Since avocados at Costco can come from a range of locations, it's a good idea to keep an eye out each time you purchase a bag of the fruits if you have an origin-specific preference. If you prefer avocados from Mexico, you're in luck — according to CNBC, about 90% of the avocados in the United States come from our neighbor to the south, so you shouldn't have trouble picking them up elsewhere if you can't find them at your local Costco.