As if soaring prices weren’t enough, a blaze on vehicle delivering the millennial delicacy from Mexico left 40,000lb of the fruit smouldering in the roadway

This article is more than 2 years old

This article is more than 2 years old

An avalanche of 40,000lb of avocados, many of them charred and burnt, spilled across a Texas highway on Thursday afternoon after the truck that was hauling them caught fire.

Mexico considers importing avocados as staple priced out of consumers' reach Read more

The Texas department of public safety indicated a mechanical issue with the truck was probably to blame and reported that no one was injured. The highway lane was shut down for more than three hours, local media reported, as crews worked to put out the fire and clear the unseasoned guacamole from the roadway.

The truck, which was travelling north, was most likely delivering avocados from Mexico (the world’s largest avocado exporter) to customers in the US (the world’s largest avocado consumer). The high-in-healthy-fat superfood has been steadily gaining popularity, particularly among young people, over the last 10 years.

Demand has remained extremely high in the US and expanded in European and Chinese markets this year, while growers have struggled with bad weather that has pushed down yields. Production in 2017 is down approximately 50% in California and 20% in Mexico, driving the price of avocados up dramatically.

According to the Financial Times, avocado prices more than doubled from January 2017 through the middle of the year.

Unfortunately for home-renting debt-strapped American millennial avocado lovers, the char-roasted batch being scraped from the Texas highway will do little to lessen such costs.