A Tequila Story

Welcome back to the beverage corner Food Junglers. This week, Meg’s going to talk to us about the recent popularity of Tequila and the challenges that this newfound popularity has brought. Let’s dig in.

Tequila’s golden age

Over the past four years, Tequila has seen an unprecedented boom in sales. In fact, Mexican farmers of agave - the plant from which Tequila is made - have not been able to keep up with the rising demand.

In the US, super-premium Tequila sales grew more than 40% between the first half of 2021 and 2022 and overall consumption rose 27%, surpassing Vodka sales in 2023. 

From George Clooney to Kendall Jenner, numerous celebrities continue to push for their own stamp on Tequila production and a share of the multi-billion dollar industry.

But there’s more to the story.

An unknown, darker side

Tequila is produced using blue agave, a plant that is native to the Americas. They grow within an ecosystem nourished by the long-nosed bat, which eats the plant and assists its reproduction process. More importantly for this story, agave plants take around seven years to fully mature. 

But while many large-scale producers of Tequila have the resources to wait for agave plants to mature, benefitting from the drink’s increased popularity, small and medium-scale agave producers tell a different story. 

The Tequila industry’s popularity inspired a large number of inexperienced investors to enter the space, forcing smaller producers to adhere to strict quotas to maximise their profits.

And as a result, those small-scale agave farmers, mostly located in Mexico, took shortcuts. From harvesting underage agave to forcefully creating genetically identical plants that were susceptible to disease, many have done what they could to meet the demand.

Almost inevitably, many small-scale Tequila producers folded, as they couldn’t produce enough volume to satisfy the aspirations of investors who wanted a quick cash grab.

An unsustainable legacy

As with many of these production booms, there are legacies left in the wake of their bust.

For example, harvesting underage agave - which I noted previously - has a devastating impact on the surrounding natural ecosystem and the producer-distillery supply chain.

And creating agave “clones” - in which agave plants are artificially replicated to produce more of the plant - has frequently led to genetic erosion, a phenomenon which leaves agave plants less resilient to disease and shifts in climate. Not to mention, the long-nosed bats are stripped of their food source.

Mixed reactions

The global beverage industry and the general public, however, are looking to preserve the heritage of Tequila-production through small, meaningful actions.  

For instance, Max Reis - a Los Angeles-based bartender - has found an agave replacement. His “nogave” syrup is a blend of Demerara sugar and orange blossom honey and is a sustainable and low-cost alternative to the “real” agave that’s made in Mexico.

On top of that, a bat-friendly initiative in Mexico has recently been launched to encourage tequila producers to allow their plants to flower in order to support the bat population.

These examples are not solving the problem anytime soon. However, given the extent of the agave-production issue, this is a step in the right direction.

Light at the end of the tunnel

From bat-friendly incentive programmes and “nogave” to a recent decline in the price of agave that is managing expectations, there is reason to be optimistic.

But, if nothing else, the recent boom in tequila production has certainly provided us with a valuable lesson on the environmental impacts of supply and demand, paired with overproduction. Let’s hope we learn.