Several new projects designed to give a valuable shot in the arm to the already thriving tequila sector were announced last week when the National Chamber of the Tequila Industry (CNIT) convened to mark 200 years of Jalisco as a free and sovereign state.
Guest of honor at the celebration was Jalisco Governor Enrique Alfaro, who announced the upcoming construction of a public plant for the treatment of vinasse, the liquid residue obtained after tequila distillation. He also revealed a project underway to build a new Tequila Museum in Guadalajara, plus the reactivation of the Tequila Express tourist route.
For every liter of tequila produced, an average of ten liters of vinasse is generated, which is traditionally poured into water bodies and crop fields. However, its use for irrigation has increasingly been questioned, and vinasse is now considered an environmental problem that requires attention.
Alfaro said the vinasse treatment plant will be for smaller distilleries to use at affordable rates, since the large ones mostly have their own plants.
In addition, tequila vinasse has a high potential to be used as a substrate in the production of bioenergy (biogas and hydrogen) and in obtaining materials through biotechnology.
Alfaro said the new Tequila Museum will be built next to the Museo Trompo Magico Children’s Museum in Zapopan, which is currently undergoing renovations. Plans to restart the Tequila Express Tourist train are well advanced.
CNIT President Luis Fernando Félix Fernández lauded Alfaro as the governor who has most supported the tequila sector in recent decades.
In addition, the CNIT unveiled several varieties of tequila that it launched in conjunction with the 200-year anniversary of the founding of Jalisco.