Demand for tequila not good for the land
By Ted Genoways, Bloomberg
To slake North America’s seemingly bottomless thirst (sales have almost tripled since 1995), and to meet growing demand in Asian and European markets, tequila producers have tripled the production of pure agave over the past decade through new growing, production, and distillation methods.
But these methods, scientists warn, have left the region vulnerable to severe ecological impacts.
Connoisseurs, meanwhile, complain that tequilas produced by the new methods are of such low quality that they can be enjoyed only by the frozen margarita crowd.
After decades of focusing exclusively on increased foreign sales, tequila producers may finally be forced to ask: How big is too big?
