Joaliné Pardo Núñez

Peasant agroecology faces limitations in commercial visibility and institutional recognition despite its contributions to ecological, food and cultural sustainability. This article analyses the participatory construction of a territorialised collective brand within the Red de Soberanía Alimentaria de Productores Indígenas de la Montaña de Guerrero, Mexico (SAPIGro), and systematises the Territorialised Collective Brand Model (TCBM). The research was conducted in 2024 with 18 families from seven rural Indigenous communities using a participatory action research strategy that combined symbolic co-design workshops, participant observation, documentary analysis and Frederic Vester’s systemic analysis matrix to identify critical variables within the local agri-food system. The results show that the TCBM is structured around four interrelated dimensions: identity, organisational, productive and commercial–symbolic. Cultural identity operates as a regulatory variable, while organisational capacities and market access constitute critical variables. The collective brand functions as a social innovation and symbolic territorialisation mechanism that strengthens community agency, revalues Indigenous agroecological food systems, and provides transferable methodological inputs for rural development policies and strategies grounded in territoriality and solidarity-based economies.

Mezcal is a traditional beverage with relevant cultural and economic importance in Mexico, with different Protected Designation of Origin locations. This study focuses on creating a sensory lexicon for Mezcal with local producers by means of Free Choice Profiling. A selection of the most relevant descriptors was made to construct a sensory wheel. Subsequently, a sensory panel evaluated a total of 10 Mezcal samples using the sensory categories defined in the sensory wheel. Additionally, gas chromatography with mass spectrometry was performed to analyze volatile components’ contribution to the aroma and flavor descriptors. A total of 87 terms were selected for the sensory wheel, using 41 descriptors within 10 categories for odor modality and 46 more within 13 categories for flavor modality. The main volatile compounds that were identified were 37 esters, 17 alcohols, 12 ketals and 9 terpenes, which were the foremost contributors to the presence of several sensory descriptors and were also found in most of the Mezcal samples. The quantitative analysis results exhibited a higher floral odor for Mezcal of the Angustifolia variety and the highest smoked odor for an earthenware distilled Mezcal, thus proving that the selection of the descriptors from the wheel was appropriate for differentiating Mezcal samples from different origins, agave species and distillation processes. Therefore, the sensory wheel developed in this study can be used both as a quality control tool and as a marketing tool that allows producers to differentiate their products in the market.

Objective: To analyze the characteristics and socio-productive problems of women mezcal producers of Oaxaca, Mexico. Design/methodology/approach: A semi-structured interview was applied in the field to n=20 women mezcal producers to obtain the data for this study. Results: The interviewees are middle-aged adult women with an elementary education level and a wide experience in the production of mezcal. Among them, 35% make all decisions in their business and at home. The main problems that they perceive in this activity are the price of mezcal (35%) and the shortage of agave (30%). Women face social limitations such as work overload at home, a lack of financial aids for production, and little involvement in rural organizations. Study limitations/implications: More studies about women mezcal producers in Oaxaca should be conducted. Findings/conclusions: Collective work and organization could be alternatives for women mezcal producers to improve their and their families’ benefits and quality of life. Public policies with a gender perspective should be designed to meet the needs of women who participate in mezcal production.

La planta del agave tiene un significativo valor económico y cultural, pues no solo se considera un producto agrícola y forestal, sino que además se emplea en la elaboración de una cantidad importante de productos. En México, uno de los derivados más representativos del agave son las bebidas destiladas de mezcal y tequila, cuya venta se ha incrementado fuera del país. En respuesta a esta demanda, Guerrero ha reportado un crecimiento anual de la producción de mezcal del 1,5 %, con un aumento en la superficie de más de 1.000 hectáreas entre 2015 y 2020. Este auge comercial ha generado una expansión e intensificación de la siembra y producción de la Agave spp. (Asparagaceae), así como el uso de técnicas agrícolas de producción inadecuadas y cambios en la tecnología tradicional. Es por ello que el objetivo de este trabajo fue localizar espacialmente el agave mezcal, en particular las especies Agave cupreata Trel. & Berger y Agave angustifolia Haw., con tecnologías geomáticas para identificar los ambientes diversificados del agave (silvestre o cultivado) que fortalezcan los procesos agroproductivos y potencien los subproductos del cultivo. El estudio encontró que la superficie potencial del cultivo de agave es superior a lo reportado por fuentes oficiales en más de 25.000 hectáreas y que los cálculos realizados con tecnologías geomáticas tienen una precisión del 91 % para identificar áreas adecuadas para el aprovechamiento y la conservación de estas dos especies de importancia económica.

Maybe the most known and diffused use of the Agave genus plants is the production of alcoholic beverages, being mezcal and tequila the most consumed. As a matter of fact, increased demand for these beverages has led to important pressures in the ecosystems from which the Agave is obtained. In the present article, we compare management practices carried out by mezcal producers in Oaxaca and Aguascalientes, comparing the state that produces the most volume of mezcal with a state that is new to that industry. We define management as "the interventions, transformations or decisions over natural or artificial systems, their elements and functional processes with explicit purposes", according with Casas et al (2014). We also explore the expressions of management, as ways to take advantage, preserve, restore or take back the vegetable elements of the ecosystem and the agroecosystem, finding important differences in terms of future sustainability for the alcoholic beverage industry.

The purpose of this paper is to analyze growth strategies from large spirits companies, their impact on mezcal market and the implications on local artisanal mezcal producers in Oaxaca, Mexico. As a case of study, the competition strategies of the main spirits companies are analyzed globally through reports and different databases, information that is complemented and related to interviews conducted with different mezcal producers and marketers in the State of Oaxaca, Mexico. It is considered that the best strategy that mezcal producers can follow is to direct the product directly to the final consumer highlighting socio-cultural elements incorporated in the product.