Worth its salt
Even though US adults are generally drinking less these days, they seem to be increasingly making an exception for a bevy of bebidas imported from Mexico.
The US is the largest market for Mexico’s agave-derived spirits, with tequila and mezcal, its smoky counterpart, booming in recent years. Indeed, last year tequila and mezcal surpassed American whiskey to become the second-fastest growing spirits category in the States — selling nearly 30 million 9-liter cases — with the pair poised to overtake vodka as the fastest-growing spirit category in 2023.
And it's not just tequila that has Americans in high spirits: Mexican beer is also having un momento, with imports up more than 10% this year, and this summer seeing the American classic Bud Light dethroned as the nation’s favorite beer by Latin-owned Modelo Especial.
Top shelf
While volume sales of tequila/mezcal have grown 273% since 2003, it's the top shelf stuff that’s really selling: super premium tequila/mezcal brands surged more than 1,500% in the same period.
America’s collective leaning towards more lavish liquors may be explained by a bit of good-old-fashioned star-power: the launch of George Clooney’s Casamigos in 2013, which was sold to Diageo for a staggering $1 billion only 4 years later, paved way for a flight of celebrity-backed tequilas, from Kendall Jenner’s 818 to The Rock’s Teremana.
