I just noticed something that we probably overlook every time we go to the supermarket. Yesterday, I was at a store here in California and saw the typical shopping cart of any family: avocados, strawberries, tomatoes, beer, tortillas, a T-shirt for the kid. Nothing that seems special, right? But here’s the interesting part: a good portion of what you just put in the cart has already traveled hundreds of miles. It came from a greenhouse in Michoacán, crossed the border at Laredo just a few days ago, and now it’s in your kitchen. It’s no coincidence that when winter ends in California and people start looking for fresh products, supermarkets are full of options. It’s a whole binational machine operating without us realizing it.

The numbers behind this are impressive. The United States imported $505 billion worth of goods from Mexico in 2024, making Mexico our main trading partner. But the most relevant sector is agriculture: 72.5% of what we import from Mexico are vegetables, fruits, beverages, and spirits. Mexico supplies 63% of all the fresh vegetables we consume and 47% of the fruits and nuts. In other words, without that constant flow from the south, our refrigerators would be pretty empty in certain months.

The avocado story is particularly revealing. About 80% of the avocados consumed in the United States come from Mexico. Think about it: that Super Bowl guacamole, those toasted avocados at Sunday brunch, those “healthy” bowls you see at any café in big cities... all of that started its journey in the Bajío or western Mexico. And it’s not just food. Mexican beer dominates the import market: 84% of the beer we import comes from there. In clothing, appliances, and the cars you see in the suburbs, there are Mexican components. Some of those cars were fully assembled in Guanajuato or Coahuila.

Now, all of this is possible for a very specific reason: the infrastructure at the border, especially in Texas. Port Laredo has become the country’s number one port of entry by trade volume, channeling around 44% of all bilateral commerce. Every day, thousands of trucks cross those bridges carrying fresh food, manufactured goods, and consumer products. An increasingly larger portion involves cold chain cargo, which now exceeds $5 billion annually. What’s routine for us is a binational logistical operation for that region.

In the last two decades, fruit and vegetable imports from Mexico have multiplied. They went from an average of $7.3 billion annually to $19.7 billion. That explains why today we can have fresh fruits and vegetables year-round, even in winter. The cold chain is so specialized that it maintains the quality and freshness of products traveling thousands of kilometers. It’s a two-way relationship: we import agricultural products, and they import back technology, inputs, and consumer goods in equivalent proportions.

Behind every supermarket cart is a story of cooperation, infrastructure, and shared trust between two countries. It’s one of those systems that works so well that we almost don’t realize it exists. But next time you pick up an avocado or a strawberry at the supermarket, it will be hard not to think about everything that had to happen for that to reach your table.