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Atotonilquillo, Chapala’s quince capital

It’s harvest time in orchards planted in the countryside just over the hill from Lake Chapala.

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Visitors at Expo-Membrillo will encounter a wide array of quince products displayed in handsomely decorated sale stalls and cordial service of the townspeople. The Alvarado family is distinguished for organic methods of fruit production employed in their orchards.

Ixtlahuacán de los Membrillos takes its extended name from the quince, a fruit introduced to the region by Franciscan friars as they spread their evangelization missions across Mexico during the Colonial era. Quince orchards likewise abound on the outskirts of Atotonilquillo, a town with a population of about 7,000 inhabitants, and Chapala’s most distant of satellite Delegación.

Atoto, as the town is known among locals, is essentially a rural community populated predominantly by farming families that specialize in cultivating quince orchards and producing artisan products made with the fruit. The town is also home to a factory operated by Huntsman Textiles Effects that employees 500 workers to manufacture fabric colorants for clothing and automotive industries.

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