China loves tequila, Exports up 38% last year

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Tequila exports to China accelerate

In 2018, sales of the beverage to the Asian giant grew 37.8% at an annual rate.

Guadalajara, Jal. The Chinese market finally began to taste like tequila. In 2018 exports of the national drink to that country grew 37.8% compared to 2017.

According to statistics from the Tequila Regulatory Council (CRT), while in 2017, 681,959 liters of the distillate were exported to China, last year the figure was 940,061 liters.

“China is a great opportunity for us. First we fight to obtain the recognition of the Denomination of Origin Tequila (DOT) with China. We spent more than nine years with negotiations, but we have been there visiting the government authorities of the People’s Republic of China, “CRT president Miguel Ángel Domínguez Morales told El Economista.

Although the consumption in the Asian giant did not grow as planned, as the sector had projected that at this time it would be located as the second largest export market, only after the United States, the efforts to achieve the recognition of the DOT and the promotion of the drink in that country began to bear fruit.

“It’s a very important market. Chinese are used to strong spirits and have a great economic capacity.

“There is a good relationship with them and we are seeing how we can boost our products, because it is an extraordinary market (…) It is growing at a good pace. There we have an opportunity to grow a lot, “said Dominguez Morales.

In 2013, the year in which the governments of Mexico and China signed an agreement to export tequila and pork to the Asian country, sales of the Mexican beverage amounted to 524,960 liters.

For 2014 the figure dropped to 487,561 liters; in 2015 it grew to 550,124 liters and in 2016, 527,485 liters were exported.

From January to April of this 2019, exports to China totaled 84,852 liters.

Since 2006, tequila has had the certification mark in the Asian country, in both Chinese and Spanish characters, and in 2014 it obtained recognition as a Denomination of Origin.

Although the Mexican drink has been present in China for decades, it had not achieved significant growth in that country, due to the fact that it faced non-tariff barriers such as methanol content, the presence of phthalates (a compound that is present in plastics) and the caramel color

New Guinness Record

In another context, at the beginning of the celebrations for its 25th anniversary, the CRT broke its own Guinness Record, by gathering 1,733 bottles of tequila exhibited in the same place.

At the El Refugio Cultural Center in Tlaquepaque, the Guinness World Records Organization gave the certificate certifying that the CRT broke its previous record of 1,201 bottles on display (2009).

“Each of these bottles has a product with its own characteristics that reflect the work of the industry, the temper of its people and the mineral wealth of its land. It is a noble and rich drink, capable of satisfying and exceeding the expectations of the most demanding palates worldwide, and that is why art also melts into every bottle of tequila, “said Miguel Ángel Domínguez.

In addition to the exhibition that will be open to the public until May 28, the anniversary celebrations include the exhibition of photography and plastic arts Agave and Tequila, pride of Mexico, around the first Mexican Denomination of Origin.

Source: el economista

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