General: Avocado is the New "Green Gold" and that means Security Issues

The lure of avocado theft spans oceans. The California Avocado Commission has a theft-reporting hotline. In Mexico, rival drug cartels battle for a slice of the multibillion-dollar fruit trade. The global avocado market is expected to grow from about $12.2 billion in 2020 to $17.9 billion by 2025, according to ResearchAndMarkets.com, which provides research for a swath of industries. At upscale restaurants from Johannesburg to Cape Town, avocados have found their way atop pizzas and into ice cream. “As the value of the product rises, the accessibility of it rises because there’s more orchards being planted,” said Howard Blight, who grows avocados, macadamia nuts and dragon fruit on his nearly 350-acre farm. The property is guarded by an electric fence standing more than 7-feet high and topped with barbed wire. Guards patrol the farm 24/7. -WSJ