Agave Plant shortage means more expensive tequila
An Agave Plant shortage globally is making tequila a true ‘liquid gold’ or ‘silver.’
Tequila is the swaying backbone of the party culture, responsible for countless amazing sunsets and nights of drunken merriment.
But our festive friend is under serious threat, as the cultivation of Agave is experiencing a global shortage likely to continue until 2021, resulting in a definite price increase- supply and demand!
It is projected that 42 million plants are needed this year alone in order to supply the 140 registered companies, with the sad reality revealing that only 17.7 million plants are ready to harvest as it takes 7-8 years to mature to its tequila bearing state, according to Tequila Regulatory Council and the National Tequila Industry Chamber.
Agave you my heart
Scarcity brings forth an imminent price increase; in fact, the price for Agave has increased six-fold in two years, from 21 cents a kg to $1.18.
Francisco Soltero, director of strategic planning at Patrón Spirits International, told Reuters: “The growth has overtaken us. It’s a crisis of success of the industry.”
The consumption increase has largely affected premium brands such as Patron, as people are encouraged to buy into the “drink less, but more quality” lifestyle that could set them back by a casual $1,500 to $7,500 per bottle- cheers!
Pure tequila saw a 198% export increase in the past decade, whereas cheaper blends only rose by 11%.
The problem is that “[Markets] are using four-year-old plants because there aren’t any others,” Marco Polo Magdaleno, a worker in Guanajuato, Mexico, told Reuters, which decreases the quality of tequila.
Hopefully the price hike won’t deter people from the greatness that is tequila, and hopefully the Agave Plant will recover to its beautifully bountiful state.
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