Promoting and executing sustainable agave plantations with the highest social and environmental standards.
We provide stability, quality, and transparency to a fragmented market.
WHO WE ARE
Proyecto Hijuelo is an agroecological platform that seeks to promote and executes sustainable agave plantations with the highest social and environmental standards.
We provide stability, quality, and transparency to a fragmented market.
WHY?
The mezcal industry has grown exponentially, leading to detrimental environmental and social consequences throughout its supply chain.
The mezcal rush has incited growers to plant as much agave as possible, causing massive deforestation. Additionally, the industry’s focus on a single agave species (Espadin) paired with the use of industrial agricultural practices has led to soil degradation and decreased biodiversity in the region.
Mezcal’s growth has been based on a fragmented supply chain ran mainly by middlemen (coyotes) that provide low and unstable income to the smallholder farmers, as they take a large cut from final sales. Lack of market accessibility and financing opportunities have left smallholder farmers out of the mezcal boom.
WHAT WE DO
Transforming agricultural ecosystems & collaborating with smallholder farming communities.
WHAT WE DO
We focus on producing a variety of agave species through two production models:
1. Enabling smallholder farming communities with inputs and support to ensure they are included in the mezcal industry growth
2. Through managing regenerative plantations that aim to a higher agroecological impact to contribute to a more positive environmental production model and away from the usual industrial exploitive agricultural models.