Quality, Logistics and Trust Keep Mexico as Top U.S. Wheat Buyer

From treats like churros to daily staples like bolillo bread, Mexican consumers love wheat-based foods. High-quality U.S. wheat is the critical ingredient for these staples, but strong partnerships between U.S. wheat farmers and their Mexican customers are what truly keep Mexico as the top U.S. wheat market. U.S. Wheat Associates (USW) leaders explored the important link between quality, logistics and relationships during a recent supervisory mission to Mexico.

“As I’ve traveled across the United States and met with wheat producers, I’ll occasionally get asked whether wheat quality still matters to international flour millers,” said Mike Spier, USW president and CEO. “After visiting Mexico, I can confidently say that quality remains essential.”

Mexico is consistently the largest buyer of U.S. wheat, importing an average of 3.56 million metric tons (MMT) (130.8 million bushels) each year, based on the five-year average. As of August 28, 2025, sales this marketing year are up 24% from last year at this time at 2.12 MMT (77.9 million bushels).

From sprawling Mexico City to dynamic Guadalajara, Spier, along with Gary Millershaski, USW vice chairman and farmer from Kansas, and Brian Liedl, USW vice president of overseas operations, visited mills, bakeries and transportation facilities in late August. Together, the trio met with owners and decision-makers from mills that represented more than 80% of Mexico’s total milling capacity. At every stop, the team heard about the importance of U.S. wheat to their businesses.

“Every single person we met with emphasized how critical high-quality wheat is to their operations and to meeting the specifications and expectations of their baking customers,” Spier said. “It’s clear that U.S. wheat producers’ commitment to growing quality wheat continues to resonate in Mexico and drive demand in this vital export market.”

Spier emphasized Mexican customers know that the quality they need starts with the work of farmers like Millershaski, who echoed the positive sentiment for U.S. wheat like the U.S. hard red winter (HRW) wheat he grows on his farm, noting it was “repeated everywhere we went.”

The Mexican milling market is both sophisticated and large, as the USW leaders observed. Spier noted the mills are as state-of-the-art as those in other top U.S. wheat importing countries. Liedl emphasized investments in transportation efficiencies to keep U.S. wheat flowing to Mexico efficiently and cost-effectively. Even the local bakeries are focused on how to keep their products top-notch.

One of the bakeries the trio visited employs a highly skilled artisan baker that could individually produce as many as 7,000 bread units per day. Just down the street from a training center, bakery owners and staff contacted USW for advice on how to adjust production of their bolillo bread – a bread roll traditionally used for making sandwiches in Mexico. After working with the bakery and making some slight changes to their formulation and process, product quality and sales improved. It was hard for the trio to get a really good look at the loaves, as they were flying off the shelf from regular shoppers.

The cornerstone of this partnership with Mexico is trust, built on years of dedicated collaboration between U.S. wheat farmers, USW staff and Mexican millers and bakers. At each meeting, the leaders observed that these strong relationships are not just transactional, but personal. While the Mexican market is sensitive about sharing information, USW has kept an open working relationship by providing transparent information on each year’s crop and individualized technical support. As a result, USW is seen as a trusted collaborator.

“It was really impressive to see just how trusted our staff is in Mexico and the relationships they have,” Millershaski said.

He took that faith and trust in U.S. wheat farmers like himself back to Lakin, Kansas. He encourages fellow producers to grow the high-quality wheat that meets the needs of export customers like those in Mexico, even when the low farm-gate price complicates planting decisions.

“Everybody needs to pay attention so that we can counter diseases like Wheat Streak Mosaic Virus (WSMV) and raise a crop that is going to be higher in protein and higher in milling quality,” he said. “Instead of just doing the status quo, let’s go a step above.”

“With continued dedication to quality and close partnerships, we can make sure U.S. wheat remains the preferred choice in top markets like Mexico, a win-win for us as growers and our customers.”

Tags: imports, U.S., Market, demand, Mexico, Bread, wheat