Several UK restaurants are being urged to remove trendy avocados from their menus. The reason? Some of the profits from the so-called superfood are going directly to Mexico's drug cartels, stated by express.co.uk.
Following a series of brutal murders, kidnappings and extortion rackets, they have seized control of some of the farms and orchards where the popular fruit is grown. Now terrified farmers and locals in the Mexican state of Michoacan, where more than half the country's export crop is cultivated, refer to their product as "blood avocados" and estimate one cartel alone is reaping as much as £150 million a year from British consumers.
It is said that the cartel -Los Caballeros Templarios, or Knights Templar- is raking in more money from avocados than it does from marijuana. Already, one British restaurant has vowed to lead the fightback by removing dishes like avocado toast from its menu.
The Wild Strawberry Cafe in Great Missenden, Buckinghamshire, which had been serving as many as 1,000 avocados a week, said it would be "plain wrong" to continue: "The Western world's obsession with avocado has been placing unprecedented demand on avocado farmers, pushing up prices to the point where there are even reports of Mexican drug cartels controlling lucrative exports."
The restaurant, which also specialises in vegan dishes, told patrons it had "thought long and hard" before reaching its decision, which also includes environmental concerns over intensive avocado farming that can lead to deforestation.
The World Avocado Organisation responded to multiple allegations regarding avocados, claiming that they are simply not true: “There were reports this week that avocados were on the decline in the UK and a handful of cafes were cited to have removed the world’s favourite superfood from their menu in line with concerns around water consumption and land concerns.”
