British drinks behemoth Diageo has laid the first stone on the expansion of its bottling, aging, warehousing and distribution complex in Atotonilco el Alto, Jalisco.
Diageo will invest 400 million pesos over the next 18 months to expand the plant, which bottles the company’s prestigious Don Julio tequila brand, as well as Smirnoff vodka. A new bottling line for Captain Morgan rum will be added as part of the expansion.
The facility will add a further 24,000 square meters to its plant located in the “Charcón” neighborhood of Atotonilco, which is also home to the La Primavera distillery that has produced Don Julio since 1942. Around 1,000 new jobs will be added, according to Diageo Mexico Director General Erik Seiersen.
The expanded complex will allow the company to bottle around five million boxes of drinks per year (45 million liters) – much of it for export.
In addition to Don Julio, Diageo owns a host of other well-known international labels, including Johnnie Walker, Buchanan’s, J&B, Black& White, Bertrams VO, Baileys, Tanqueray and Guinness.
A new addition to the plant will be a unit to produce biofuel from the by-products of tequila, including bagasse, the residue left after the juices have been extracted from the agave.