SOUTH AFRICA. A South African firm has begun making a local version of the Mexican national drink tequila and has ambitious plans to expand it internationally, including duty free.
Agave Distillers, named after the Blue Agave plant which forms the base of the famous liquor, is the first such operation outside Mexico.
The Mexican authorities leaned on international trade agreements to ensure the South Africans did not call their drink tequila, but the “Agava” branded spirit has got off to a successful start, according to local reports.
Managing director Roy McLachlan said that distillers in Australia, Europe and the US are buying up bulk consignments of concentrated liquor, which he claims undercuts Mexican products and fill a hole in the market left by the Latin Americans.
A scarcity of agaves in Mexico led to regular price rises on tequila in recent years and even product shortages. Since similar species of the plant grow in South Africa, distillers on the Karoo plains decided to fill the gap.
Until the late 1990s, the agaves were only used as feedstock for animals. The Karoo entrepreneurs began their plan when they heard that many of Mexico’s prized agave plantations had been wiped out by disease. The plants take several years to grow, and that, said McLachlan, opened up a window of opportunity for South Africa.
“The only difference between what we make and what they make is that they process the Agave tequilana in Mexico and we process the Agave americana that grows here in the Karoo,” he said.
Agave Distillers is now selling between 12,000 and 15,000 cases of the spirit a month. In addition, McLachlan said he hoped to be sending more than 60,000 litres of concentrate a month to importers.
Any duty free retailer with a large South African clientele, take note. Any with a large Mexican clientele, beware.
