Twelve Tequila Companies Sign ‘Good Agave Pledge’ Providing Life-Saving Changes for Tequila Workers

Today twelve tequila brands – united through The Gente Buena Foundation’s Good Agave Pledge – announced their commitment to improving the difficult economic and environmental challenges faced by tequila workers in Mexico’s agave plant-producing regions. The Good Agave Pledge aims to double the success of Gente Buena in the first year by raising even more awareness and funds to help agave farmworkers.

The Good Agave Pledge commits to building prosperity, sustaining healthy ecosystems, and improving quality of life for farmworkers in the agave-growing regions of Mexico. Founding members include: Valor, Almatitán, Atanasio, Combio, El Tequileno, Lost Lore, Montagave, Siempre, El Tesoro Azteca, Nock, Polanco, and Tequilera Hacienda de Oro.

“Tequila has played a central role in Mexico’s economy for centuries, but the generations of agave plant harvesters doing the work still lack basic needs and resources to secure their health, safety, and fair treatment,” said Gente Buena Foundation Chair and the Founder and CEO of Valor Tequila Christiane Maertens. “We know when businesses commit to their workers, everyone wins: profits increase, workforce is stabilized, and consumers get a better product.”

The initiative was informed by years of research conducted through two Mexican universities: The College of Michoacan and the University of Guadalajara. 

“I have studied biodiversity and vulnerable populations in the agave landscape region for more than two decades, so I know firsthand the environmental challenges of the region and the difficulties many of its people face,” said Professor Leobardo Padilla from University of Guadalajara. “But thanks to collaborative work and research with academics, health providers, and agroecologists, Gente Buena has achieved tangible changes in the lives of workers.”

The initiative also partners with Pronatura Mexico, Mexico’s leading non-profit that promotes environmental and community health and sustainability. “We are committed to working together with the tequila industry to ensure sustainable processes, access to water, and to make a real social impact, “ said Pronatura Mexico Executive Director Kathy Gregoire.  “We applaud this initiative to make something so inherently Mexican, tequila, produced with a vision of sustainability and equality.”

While tequila has been around for thousands of years, the hard workers who harvest the agave plant that makes tequila still lack access to basic needs like clean running water, health care, and transportation. 

“We do not ask for more or anything but that it is fair and that we are treated like people who are dedicated to the work,” said tequila industry worker Juan Manuel.  

Tequila industry leaders are stepping up. "We’re all in with Gente Buena. This isn’t charity. It’s about standing with our own, protecting our land, and making sure the people who built this culture thrive. Siempre’s roots are here, and so is my heart. We’re in this for real,” said Siempre owner Monica Sanita. 

To mitigate these hardships, participating tequila company partners will bring vital services and resources to the region, including the installation of water cisterns to houses, the creation of new health service centers, economic solvency, and environmental sustainability. 

“We admire and believe in the mission of giving back to the agave communities that have given us so much. We met agave workers served by Gente Buena and it’s tangibly improving their lives by addressing fundamental needs like consistent access to water – something many of us take for granted,” said Lost Lore Tequila Vice President Sarah Lamas. “The experience left us inspired and motivated to contribute to this vital pledge through funding and ongoing support.”

Water Security

As of 2020, only 39 percent of Mexico’s rural population had daily water and improved sanitation in their homes. Clean water access in Mexico decreased nearly two-thirds per capita between 1960 and 2020, and it is projected that by 2050, there will be 20.4 million more inhabitants in the country, increasing the need for water by 55 percent. Climate change in recent years has had an impact on the municipality of Tequila, where, in 2020, 98% of the municipality experienced some degree of drought.

Having only remote access to water forces people, especially women, to plan their entire days around water access. Having clean water readily available in their homes frees up their time and allows them to spend it in other pursuits like paid labor.  

In San Pedro de los Landeros (SPL), a town in Jalisco, 51 families currently face limited water access with unpredictable schedules. Working in partnership with Pronatura, GBF is building a comprehensive water security program which, in addition to the 176 residents of the town, will benefit an estimated 2,000 people in surrounding communities through improved watershed health. 

Health Emergency Response

Agave farmwork requires working long hours in the sun, leaving workers susceptible to heat illness, which farmworkers are 35 times more likely to die from than workers in other occupations. But because of the geographically remote nature of their work, workers often lack the infrastructure to make sure they can access quality health care quickly.  

While working to mitigate emergency response wait times, Gente Buena also works to educate workers on signs, symptoms, and remedies of illness to empower workers to improve their own health outcomes until help arrives. 

Environmental Sustainability

Making tequila is NOT easy; it takes 6 years just to harvest a single fruit from an agave plant. Because tequila can only be made in Jalisco and other agave-plant regions, the soil quality has deteriorated from over-farming, which, over time, depletes soil of valuable nutrients and qualities, many of which contribute tremendously to the flavor of high-quality tequila. 

Gente Buene convened the first exchange of sustainable agave practices in San Pedro de los Landeros with CUValles at the University of Guadalajara, where more than 30 agronomists and agave producers shared knowledge about agroecology, reducing environmental impact, preserving biodiversity, and enhancing soil health. Gente Buena also worked with community members to plant more than 200 trees during one off-season.

Gente Buena Foundation follows a community-informed process in collaboration with trusted local partners, building relationships with local residents to inform where and how to create lasting, equitable change. Current partners include Mexico’s largest conservation non-profit Pronatura, as well as faculty from the University of Guadalajara and the College of Michoacán, with expertise in the social and environmental issues of the agave-tequila supply chain.