Leading drinks company Brown-Forman Corporation has unveiled plans to expand the Casa Herradura tequila distillery in Jalisco, Mexico.
Set to begin in July, the US$200 million project seeks to address the rapidly rising global demand for premium tequilas.
Brown-Forman Corporation President and Chief Executive Officer Lawson Whiting said: “The world’s growing taste for premium tequila is driving double-digit net sales growth of our Herradura and el Jimador brands.
“We believe strong consumer interest in tequila will continue and we’re expanding our production capacity to meet this demand. This strategic investment will improve our production efficiencies and increase our competitiveness.”
Casa Herradura is one of Mexico’s historic and renowned tequila producers. It has been hand-harvesting, producing and estate-bottling fine tequilas from the small town of Amatitán, Jalisco since 1870. Brown-Forman acquired Casa Herradura in 2007.
Casa Herradura Vice President and General Manager Elisa Gutierrez commented: “This multi-phase project includes adding to our distillery operations, bottling, maturation, and processing areas. This expansion is particularly exciting as it will also advance our existing waste-to-energy efforts with a new water recycling and treatment plant.”
The project will kick off with the expansion of the water recycling and treatment plant, and the next phase will cover the advancement of its production facilities.
The distillery was the first to have built a water recycling and treatment plant that met government standards and is one of Brown-Forman’s zero-waste-to-landfill sites. It sends less than 1% of its total solid waste to landfill, creating a more sustainable process and product.
Over the past decade, the company has invested heavily in modern technology and sustainability strategies.
Tequila is the fastest-growing spirits category globally by value with the majority of the growth driven by the super premium+ price segment. The US market accounts for 32 million nine-litre cases, and US$12 billion in retail value, according to data from IWSR. ✈
