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​Beware The Sesh! There Could Be A Tequila Shortage

​Beware The Sesh! There Could Be A Tequila Shortage

Worldwide demand for the sesh spirit suggests supplies could start to run out

Mike Wood

Mike Wood

One tequila, two tequila, three tequila...wait, no more?

That's right: the world is facing a tequila shortage. A huge increase in the popularity of the Mexican spirit has led to a worldwide shortage of the main ingredient, agave, and forced a price hike that's threatening the production of the drink.

Reports from the Mexican state of Jalisco, where the bulk of the world's tequila is produced, are suggesting that the country's national spirit has become so beloved outside of Mexico that those who produce the ingredients to make it are struggling to keep up with demand, causing prices to rise.

The sap of the blue agave, a spiky plant a bit like a cactus, is the base ingredient of mezcal, of which tequila is the most popular form. The sap must be harvested from plants that have reached maturity, which takes up to seven or eight years.

The surge in demand in recent years has reduced the number of mature plants and has forced growers to use younger specimens, which produce less sap and subsequently less tequila, as well as creating fewer mature plants in the future.

"They (tequila producers) are using four-year-old plants because there aren't any others. I can guarantee it because I have sold them," said a blue agave grower, Marco Polo Magdaleno, from the western Mexican state of Guanajuato.

The younger plants also producer lower-quality tequila, which will fuel the demand for cheap alcohol but potentially affect those producing a more premium product.

This could be a thing of the past.
PA

"We are sure this will have a strong impact on the big firms such as Cuervo or Sauza. We don't see that the problem will be resolved soon, and that's what worries us," said Raul Garcia, who heads the National Committee for Agave Production in Tequila, a group representing growers.

It's estimated that somewhere in the region of 18 million blue agave plants were planted back in 2011 to be harvested in 2018, but demand has risen to the point where 42 million plants would be needed to satisfy it, according to the Tequila Regulatory Council and the National Tequila Industry Chamber, who represent producers.

"The growth has overtaken us. It's a crisis of success of the industry," remarked Francisco Soltero of Patron, one of the swanky brands of the tequila industry. "We thought that we were going to grow a certain amount, and we're growing double."

It's reported that demand has also been boosted by the growing success of other agave products, particularly agave syrup and inulin, an agave-derived health supplement. Agave syrup sales have skyrocketed as more and more people turn vegan, as the syrup is the closest vegan alternative to honey.

Featured Image Credit: How I Met Your Mother

Topics: Food, Alcohol