Nosotros Tequila and Mezcal, one of the largest self-distributed brands in California, will now expand its reach through a distribution partnership with Republic National Distributing Company (RNDC) in California. The move comes as the agave spirits category continues its rise as the second largest spirit category, and distributors develop their agave spirit portfolios.
“We have a team of 15 here in California and plan to continue investing in the growth of the team here and look forward to working with RNDC’s team throughout the entire state,” said founder Carlos Soto.
Boasting a lineup of mezcal and tequila under the same label, Nosotros was founded by the Costa Rican native and CFO Michael Arbanas in 2017. The project initially launched as an assignment for a business class at Loyola Marymount University, through which the founders aimed to provide a premium tequila geared towards the college-age demographic. A medal at the San Francisco World Spirits Competition for the first expression helped put the brand on the map.
The company’s blanco line is made with agaves from the highlands and lowlands of Jalisco, two traditionally separate tequila regions. The same strategy to differentiate in a crowded category has been used by a few other tequila companies as well. The lineup also includes a reposado tequila, a mezcal blend of two agave varieties, and an ultra premium madera collection that features releases of tequilas aged using white oak barrels.
As the tequila category continues to expand, the most rapid growth will be focused on super-premium-and-above price points, and higher-value product segments such as 100% agave tequilas and cristalinos, according to drinks data company, the IWSR. The global tequila market is projected to reach $24 billion USD by 2035, according to Allied Market Research. Part of tequila’s rise is the spirits’ ability to meet a variety of price points, allowing distillers to experiment with premium and above expressions to ride the premiumization wave. Soto is soon planning to announce a new product that, to his knowledge, has never been done.
“We plan to use our Madera Collection as our R&D line to develop new products that have never been done,” he said.
The brand also produced the Tesla tequila, an añejo tequila in a lightning bolt-shaped bottle that sold out of its limited edition run rapidly despite its hefty price tag. The bottle can now be found online for upwards of $1,000.
“We love collaborating with brands that we have shared values and quality standards and are definitely working on a couple other partnerships with brands we see eye to eye with and stand for values that align with ours,” said Soto.
After recently landing placement on Kroger shelves, the addition of 400 outlets was an impetus for securing a distribution partner, allowing the Nosotros team to focus on research and development. Nosotros is currently distributed in eight states, and in major retailers such as Vons and BevMo. Business has doubled each year since 2017 according to the company.