Top 5 US Importers of Persian Limes from Mexico (Early 2026 Data)

The Persian lime (limon persa) is one of the most traded fresh produce commodities crossing the US-Mexico border. Using CBP shipment records from January-February 2026, we identified the top US importers, their Mexican suppliers, and the border crossings handling the highest volume.

The Numbers at a Glance

• 926 customs declarations filed for Persian limes (HS 080550) crossing the US-Mexico border in January-February 2026
• ~4,100 estimated truckloads physically transported (calculated from total volume ÷ 22,000 kg per reefer)
• 178 active US importers receiving Persian lime shipments
• 184 active Mexican exporters sending Persian limes to the US
• 3 Mexican border states account for all crossing volume: Tamaulipas, Baja California, and Sonora

The Persian lime market is substantially fragmented — the top 5 US importers account for only about 17% of total volume. Unlike concentrated commodities such as bananas where 4-5 multinationals dominate, Persian lime sourcing flows through dozens of regional importers and wholesalers across the country.

Note: These figures reflect CBP detail-level land-trade data. Total US Persian lime imports from Mexico run higher in Census-level statistics (~58M kg/month) because Census includes sea and air trade not captured in this dataset.

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Top 5 US Persian Lime Importers

¹ Sicar Group operates under multiple US legal entities (Sicar Farms, Limex Sicar) consolidated here for clarity.

Wonderful Citrus Ventures dominates the top of the table, moving nearly twice the volume of the next-largest importer. The company is a major California-based citrus operation that complements its domestic production with significant Mexican Persian lime imports during peak season. Sicar Group represents the largest Mexican-origin specialist in the lime trade, with multiple US legal entities consolidated under common ownership.

Sunrise Produce ranks third by volume but has the highest declaration count (35) of the top five — a pattern indicating frequent smaller shipments to multiple regional distribution points. Paso Real Produce and D Produce Company round out the top five with smaller but consistent volumes characteristic of regional wholesaler operations.

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Top 5 Mexican Persian Lime Exporters

The Mexican export side is also fragmented: the top 5 exporters together account for roughly 24% of total Persian lime export volume to the US, similar concentration to the importer side.

Productora Agricola de Citricos Potosinos leads the category, shipping to four distinct US buyers — a sourcing pattern that suggests broad market access rather than a single anchor relationship. Sicar SA de CV is the Mexican parent of the Sicar Group importer entities and runs the most diversified US-buyer network of any major exporter (5 distinct customers).

Citricos Saao SA de CV appears at #3 with a notable signal: their entire US-buyer network was filtered as broker placeholder entities in our audit. This means their actual US sales channel runs primarily through aggregator structures rather than direct importer relationships — a pattern worth investigating before establishing a sourcing relationship with this exporter.

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Border Crossing Analysis

Persian lime trade flows through three Mexican border states, with one corridor handling the dominant share:

Tamaulipas dominates Persian lime trade, handling approximately 90% of all volume crossing the border. The McAllen/Laredo corridor (which routes through Tamaulipas-side ports) is the primary entry point for Mexican Persian limes destined for US distribution networks across the eastern half of the country.

Baja California Norte is a distant second, primarily serving West Coast markets through Tijuana/Mexicali crossings. Sonora plays a minor role in the lime trade, with volume more typical of seasonal supplemental flow than primary sourcing.

The Tamaulipas dominance reflects the underlying agricultural geography: Persian lime production is concentrated in the Mexican states of Veracruz, Michoacan, Tamaulipas, and Tabasco, all of which feed efficiently into Tamaulipas-side ports of entry rather than the longer trucking distances required to reach Pacific or Sonoran crossings.

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Product Variants

Most lime shipments are recorded in Spanish in customs documents:

• LIMON PERSA — Persian Lime (805 shipments, the standard variety)
• LIMON MEXICANO — Key Lime (144 shipments, smaller and more aromatic)
• LIMON ITALIANO ORGANICO — Organic Italian Lemon (33 shipments)
• Various pack sizes: 12x3 lb, 17x2 lb, 40 lb bulk boxes

The dominance of Persian Lime reflects US market preference — it's the lime you see in every grocery store, restaurant, and bar.

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What This Means for the Industry

1. The market is more fragmented than concentrated commodities. Top 5 importers control only 17% of volume — meaning sourcing competition is broadly distributed across dozens of regional wholesalers. For new entrants, the implication is that competing for buyer attention is plausible without going up against a 4-firm oligopoly.
1. Tamaulipas is the corridor that matters. 90% of Persian lime weight crosses through Tamaulipas-side ports. Buyers and sellers operating outside this corridor face significantly higher trucking costs and longer transit times. The McAllen/Laredo border infrastructure is fundamental to how this commodity moves.
1. Watch the Sicar Group consolidation pattern. Multiple US legal entities operating under common ownership account for ~3.2M kg of imports. This pattern — where a single Mexican operator structures its US import side as multiple legal vehicles — is common in the produce trade and important to recognize when analyzing market share.
1. Direct sourcing relationships are auditable. Several exporters in this dataset show signals of routing primarily through aggregator structures rather than direct importer relationships. For buyers seeking supply security, the importer-exporter pairs that show direct multi-entity relationships (like Productora Agricola de Citricos Potosinos with 4 distinct US buyers) represent more diversified and resilient sourcing options.

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Data source: US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) import records, January-February 2026. Analysis by ProduceTradeIQ.

For the live version of this roster — current importers and shipment volumes from CBP records, plus USDA FOB prices — see our Mexican lime importers page.

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