Tequila – How it is made

Product

Tequila – Anejo created by the Gonzalez family in Jalisco Mexico.

Jalisco is the only place in the world that can produce authentic tequila.

Production is 450 million liters annually

Comes from Blue agave plant

Gonzalez family harvesting for 125 years

Largest independent producer in the world

-Best is 100% without any fillers

  • No sugars or fillers

Team

Production, logistics and purchasing personnel

Process Boundaries

This process will include the supply chain stages from harvesting thru distribution to the distributor.

This process does not cover the HR, accounting, Marketing, IS or Sales related activities.

This process does not include any future process or facility improvements

Process Sequence and information

  1. Harvest agave heart
  2. Dig it up by hand
  3. Chop off the leaves
  4. 25 – 40 kilos per pina
  5. Transport out of field by mule
  6. Chop into quarters by hand
  7. Then place into autoclave or a brick oven
  8. Brick oven takes 50 –72hrs at 140-185 deg F
  9. Autoclave takes 12-18 hours
  10. Allowed to cool for 24 – 36 hours
  11. Crushed to extract juice
  12. Uses a single wheel roller
  13. Modern uses a wood chipper type machine
  14. Lab adds yeast to a flask of juice
  15. Converts juice into alcohol by breaking down the sugars
  16. Brewer’s yeast
  17. Mixture is added to vats
  18. Takes about 2-5 days in warm weather
  19. Boiling mixture to distillation into another pot
  20. Takes about 1.5 – 2hours
  21. Converts from 5% to 25% alcohol
  22. Then condensed again
  23. 110 proof by now
  24. Second distillation takes 3-4 hours
  25. Add purified water to get 80 proof
  26. Outcome is silver tequila
  27. Some is added to bourbon barrels which have been charred
  28. In for 9 months; reposado or rested
  29. Amber color
  30. Barrels last about 25 years
  31. Barrelshold about 600 liters for aged
  32. Cost about 300-400 dollars
  33. If beyond 9 months it is aged (Anejo) – darker
  34. Max is 4-5 years
  35. Pumped into trucks for transportation to bottler
  36. Bottle is filled by hand
  37. Corked by hand
  38. Labeled by hand
  39. Packaged by hand
  40. Takes about a decade for the agave plant to grow and turned into tequila
  41. Plants grow from 6 to 10 years
  42. From makers own fields
  43. 15 lbs of agave hearts are needed to produce one liter of tequila
  44. Or 6-7 liters per plant

Flowchart

See appendix 1

Supply Chain

Suppliers

Inputs

-Agave

  • Raised on Gonzalez farm

-Purified water

  • From local well

-Brewers yeast

  • Grown in Gonzalez lab

-Oak barrels from Jack Daniels

  • Jack Daniels, Lynchburg Tenn

-Bottles

  • Bottle mfr

-Labels

  • Label mfr

-Corks

  • Cork mfr

-Boxes

  • Box mfr

Transportation

-Mules from field to plant

-Tankers from plant to bottler

-Trucks from bottler to distributor

Flow Chart

-See appendix 2

Process selection

  1. A batch process is most representative
  2. Quantity is limited to about 600 liters per batch
  3. Uniqueness is limited; little variation in product
  4. Silver, rested and aged
  5. Position of sections is not linear; activities are not dedicated
  6. Skill levels mostly on maintaining the equipment, but some is on the process knowledge.
  7. Order fulfillment is MTS
  8. Order entry point is after the product is made.