Outline

Diminishing Supplies
Fidel Bazaldua
Engl 2116 008
5 May 2017

Abstract

The following executive summary reviews why there are diminishing supplies
of the blue agave plants and who suffers the most from these findings.
Benefits for allowing more municipalities to grow the plant are discussed as
well as recommendations for how to combat this in the future.

Executive Summary
Recent diminishing supplies of the blue agave have raised the concern of
expanding the allowed growing regions of Tequila. Currently only the state of
Jalisco and select municipalities outside of the state are allowed to grow and
produce Tequila. This review will discuss (1) the benefits of allowing more
municipalities in the surrounding regions to grow and produce Tequila, and (2)
goes over possible ratifications to current laws that prohibit such actions.

Analyzing data provided by the Tequila Regulatory Council (CRT) among other
resources has allowed derivation of the following conjectures:
1. The production of Tequila / Tequila 100% has been steadily increased
since 2009 and looks to keep increasing.
2. The exportation of Tequila / Tequila 100% has been steadily increased
from year to year.
3. Supply of the Blue Agave, the plant from which Tequila is made, is
forecasted to decrease drastically in the following years.
4. With the decrease in Supply, the Price of the blue agave is projected to
increase critically.
5. Small to Medium sized distilleries are likely to suffer the most from the
projected shortage of Blue Agave.
Data indicates a shortage of the Blue Agave to come about in the following
years due to the fact that farmers are no longer incentivized to grow the crop
due to plummeting prices per pound and the risk of losing crops to inclement
weather. The report concludes that allowing more municipalities to grow and
produce their own Tequila could be a possible solution.

The following recommendations are made:

1. Ratification of existing regulations to allow more municipalities to grow
and produce Tequila to diversify the Blue Agave supply.
2. Incentivize existing and future distilleries to grow and maintain their
own agave farms so as to prevent future shortages of the plant
because of unwilling farmers.