MEXICO CITY.- From 2003 and until 2016, the annual exports of tequila exceeded 100 million liters each year, largely thanks to the popularity of the margarita, cocktail that commemorated its international day, not one week ago, on February 22.
However, in 2017 Mexico exported 213 million liters of this alcoholic beverage, an increase of 7% compared to the previous year; sales of Mexican Tequila are looking at eight years of sustained growth, according to data from the Tequila Regulatory Board (CRT).
The director of the agency, Ramón González Figueroa, explained that this figure resulted in the shipment of 403 liters per minute to 120 countries, from January to December.
The attractiveness of the sales of the typical drink in Mexico has caused several international conglomerates to acquire a large number of Mexican distilleries.
The most recent purchase happened last January, when Bacardí acquired Patrón Spirits -which produces more than three million boxes of distillates annually and which are distributed throughout the world- for which it spent 5.1 billion dollars, although the operation will be achieved in the first half of the year.
It should be noted that tequila is one of the fastest growing and most attractive categories in the liquor industry. In 2005, Jim Beam made the move and bought Sauza. A year later Herradura passed into the hands of Brown-Forman, the company that owns Jack Daniel’s, without forgetting that Diageo paid a billion dollars to actor George Clooney for Casamigos in 2017.
Jimadores in Tequila, Jalisco (Photo: tripatini.com)
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González Figueroa expressed that more and more countries are purchasing tequila now.
“Strong advertisement campaigns have been launched worldwide to promote Tequila (…) Brazil begins to consolidate as one of our main markets. And new markets in countries such as Latvia, which for the first time joins the top ten exports,” he explained to Excelsior.
He said that tequila is being exported to Argentina, a country where recognition of Denomination of Origin is sought. Additionally, Russia represents an opportunity with the World Cup, to be held from June 14 to July 15 next.
Of the total tequila exports, the United States concentrates 82%, 172 million liters of Tequila were consumed in the US during 2017, which means the volume increased 6.8% compared to 2016, when 161 million liters were sent.
Source: dineroenimagen.com
