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Social Supply Model an Alternative to Enhance Mexican Agriculture

By Andrés Briseño - Archipiélago Spirits
Partner

STORY INLINE POST

By Andrés Briseño | Partner - Mon, 04/11/2022 - 10:00

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The percentage of poverty among the Oaxacan population is 24 percent higher than the rest of the country (almost 3 million people). The average salary in the countryside is up to four times lower than it is in cities, which could explain why much of the state's fertile land is abandoned. The lack of financial resources among families makes it so that agriculture occupies the next-to-last rung on the ladder of economic activities. The intensity of labor migration is so great that Oaxaca is among the leading states for migrants leaving for the US.

A Social Supply Model

The mezcal industry has been growing at a double-digit pace for a decade. Oaxaca leads production nationally with more than 92 percent of the volume. Contemplating the aforementioned conditions, it would be obscene to consider developing a project or brand that was not socially responsible.

The challenge:Preserve the artisanal process of making mezcal while meeting a rapidly growing global demand.

The solution: Unite farmers and mezcal producers in achieving a production model (fair trade) and leaving the field better than we found it (regeneration and sustainability).

Agricultural model

Oaxaca has one of the highest poverty rates in the country; therefore, it is logical that the investment needed to cultivate agave exceeds the economic possibilities of the poorer population. Therefore, we seek to involve and develop agave farmers through an operating model that, through a three-step scheme of investment, improvement of practices and agricultural education, allows us to supply the necessary resources to plant and harvest agave in an efficient and productive way. These famers own their land and, therefore, become our partners. They provide the land, work on it and keep a percentage of the harvest.

Productive model

Most mezcal masters do not have the financial resources to make the most of their palenques (micro-distilleries) following the artisanal method. An average palenque produces only a thousand liters of mezcal per month, when it could be producing up to 3,600 liters. We propose to empower the mezcal masters with the adequate investment for its optimal operation and we provide all the infrastructure that is required for the palenque to reach its maximum production capacity, without neglecting the artisanal process.

Results

A virtuous circle: More people united > more consumers > more work > more bottles produced > more development > more producers united > a better liquid > happy producers > more people united > more work > more bottles produced > more development > more producers united, and so on…

Photo by:   Andrés Briseño

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