You don’t need to be an agave expert to realize that you need Raicilla La Reina in your spirits portfolio.
Tequila and Mezcal have had an exponential growing from the previous twenty years and together their sales rose an astounding 30.1% from USD $1.2 billion to USD $5.2 billion in 2021, according to the Distilled Spirits Council of the U.S. Tequila has become in the best-selling spirits in retailers and Mezcal’s market in itself is expected to reach USD $1.06 billion by 2025. Multimillionaire brands acquisitions by major beverage players and celebrities invested in their own brands or distilleries, are part of the equation that have taken agave spirits category into the spot. With the reach, marketing and distribution support these players bring to the table; this category is only going to reach new heights.
You are right, the market seems to be saturated of them and Why I as distributor, should add another Mezcal or Tequila brand to my portfolio? Well, there are other Mexican spirits that share the same category. As it is the case for Raicilla which its sales have grown by 87% since 2019, indicating that it is the next big trend in Agave spirits category. And now, more than ever before, you should have it in your portfolio. The market is ready! and there are many enthusiasts waiting for new refreshing agave spirits proposals.
Tequila, Mezcal and Raicilla are all Agave spirits. They share the same origin, they share the same raw material and they share some production process techniques. But they are different products. I would say that Raicilla and Mezcal are more similar than any of them to Tequila.
Tequila has become a multimillion industry. In the beginning of the century, exports of the traditional distilled spirit amounted to less than 100 million liters. By 2021, the figure had been multiplied by 5.25, reaching close to 340 million liters, which 288 million liters are destined to United States. The high demand has driven to produce generic spirits with a make up story about their Mexican authenticity. I know that there are still some artisanal tequila brands with excellent products. Nevertheless, 95% of the tequilas brands are not artisanal, if we are talking about the real meaning of this concept.
Instead, Mezcal and Raicilla are still artisanal. They are beverages where traditions and handcraft are valued above all else and largely remain authentic, unadulterated by chemicals or industry. Due to these factors, they are beverage with strong character and rich expressiveness.
In 2019, Mezcal produced 7.5 miles liters and 4.7 miles of them were exported. United States is the largest mezcal market globally, buying 71% of the total exporting liters. It means that the market likes this kind of distillates with pronounced and complex flavors. And If someone drinks Mezcal is highly likely she will enjoy Raicilla, too. But…why not offer something more “underground” and interesting? Yes, Raicilla is the answer. To be more specific, Raicilla La Reina is the raicilla that you should have in your portfolio.
Raicilla La Reina was born in 2018, and even though it seems an emerging brand, it has a long story behind. The founders are partners of the Topete’s family, who have been producing Raicilla for three generations. They have had good and bad times as many families and as young entrepreneurs, but they have remained together and everyone has contributed to achieve their goal to become the number one “best selling Raicilla”. Most brands have to make up a story to sell, Raicilla La Reina doesn’t need it. They have to many to tell.
Besides it has a powerful story, Raicilla La Reina is one of which I call “good agave spirit brand”. I think that a good agave spirit is which has a high quality liquid because of its sensory characteristics and it has accomplished good practices in its production process, reducing its ecological impact and developing social programs to attend the community necessities. And Raicilla La Reina has a good quality product, proper practices and a commercial program in balance with their own capacity, supplying the demand without compromised the time of the agave, the ecosystem and the necessities of their producers and their families.
Raicilla La Reina practices agroecology and has an annual reforestation program. In other hand, it has developed three social and community programs to offer better opportunities to women and kids of the region.
If you have taken notes, you will find out that Raicilla La Reina will help you to achieve sells and grow market as distributor because:
- It is high quality spirit produced in traditional way with a premium brand identity.
- It has a newly viewed image and packaging, far away from the Tequila and Mezcal cliché, that stand out from the crowd of bottles in the point of purchase.
- Its publicity is very persuasive and it is focus on living style, fashion, art and love with great use of social media platforms, including efforts with digital influencers.
- It has developed a successful direct to consumer online market strategy as well as traditional marketing for distribution
- It has already distribution in Mexico and established presence in 12 countries, being USA its biggest market.
- It is a family-owned company with sustainable methods and fair-trade policies to appeal millennial consumers, who share these values and take them into account for their purchase decision.
- It owns fields and agaves to source the raw material for the production process. More than 100,000 agaves have been planted since 2013 with ecofriendly and sustainable practices.
- It has three craft-distilleries with the capacity to produce up to 625 liters per month. And they are planning to scale the production to 2,250 liters per moths over the next two to three years.
- It is part of the most relevant spirits events to create brand presence and organizes master classes, tastings and luxury experiences to introduce the beverage to new consumers.
- Its current objective include increasing presence on social media platforms, a planned tour in USA to visit distributors and key bars and restaurants, and increase demonstrations (cocktail classes, workshops, networking events, etc) to generate more brand awareness and consolidate sales.
Now, there is a burning discussion about the culture appropriation, the lost of tradition and the ecological disaster as consequence of the Agave spirits success. Consumers have started to question who’s behind the liquids and its ecological and social practices, especially the more informed consumers. So, people is looking for those brands that are truly from Mexico that have connection to the place and to the people. And you should not miss the opportunity to have a brand with a real story and positive impact in your portfolio as it is Raicilla La Reina.
References:
Consejo Regulador del Mezcal, Informe 2020.
Nagpal Prithvi, Spirit trends to expect in 2022, Beverage trade networking:
https://usaspiritsratings.com/en/blog/insights-1/spirit-trends-to-expect-in-2022-207.htm
Vásquez Mabi, Las 10 tendencias de bebidas alcohólicas a las que debes poner atención en este 2022, Agavache Blog:
Vásquez Mabi, Las 8 tendencias de bebidas destiladas que debes considerar en tu planeación 2021, Agavache Blog:
Vinepair podcast, What will 2022 bring for beverage alcohol?: https://vinepair.com/articles/podcast-2022-trend-preditions/
Statista, Sales volume of tequila in the United States from 2004 to 2021: https://www.statista.com/statistics/311633/us-sales-volume-of-tequila/
Statista, Mexico’s exports of tequila from 1995 to 2021: https://www.statista.com/statistics/311742/mexico-s-export-amount-of-tequila/
Statista, Leading countries of destination of tequila exports from Mexico in 2021: https://www.statista.com/statistics/311749/mexico-s-export-quantity-of-tequila-by-country/