Diageo to acquire Casa UM

Diageo announces it has reached an agreement to acquire Mezcal Unión through the acquisition of Casa UM. Mezcal Unión was launched in 2011 by a group of Mexican entrepreneurs with the purpose of developing the category while generating positive social impact and preserving traditional production. Mezcal Unión’s founders will continue to be involved in the business to support the brand’s future success and growth.

Diageo has worked in partnership with Mezcal Unión since 2016, providing expertise and supporting growth of the brand’s distribution network in Mexico, the United States, and other countries. Over this period, Mezcal Unión’s growth has accelerated, and they have integrated numerous Mezcal producers and agave farmers into their sustainability and community support programs, focused on contributing to local development in Oaxaca.

To continue promoting local development and ensure the sustainability credentials of its operations, Mezcal Unión will preserve its mission of supporting traditional and artisanal production processes while continuing existing relationships with agave farmers and its network of mezcal master distillers in Oaxaca.

Mónica Michel, Marketing and Innovation Director for Diageo in Mexico commented: “Our story with Mezcal Unión began with a distribution partnership in 2016 and we are now taking it to a new level. We are delighted to continue working with its founders and welcome this brand to our Reserve portfolio, which includes exceptional brands across exciting and fast-growing categories like tequila and mezcal.”

Over the last two years, Mezcal Unión has become one of the leading Mezcal brands in bars and restaurants in Mexico1.

Alejandro Gutierrez Champion, co-founder at Mezcal Unión added: “We believe in the power of transformation through collaboration. This approach has supported both the growth of the brand and of local communities and agave farmers in Oaxaca. We are proud to have delighted consumers with an excellent artisanal-craft mezcal and are confident that as part of Diageo, one of the largest and most respected spirits companies in the world, Mezcal Unión will continue to support development of the category, open doors to new markets and strengthen our brand mission.”

The acquisition will be funded through existing cash and is subject to regulatory clearances.

About Mezcal Unión

Mezcal Unión is a 100% handcrafted mezcal brand from Oaxaca, Mexico, founded in 2011 by a group of friends under a self-developed social collective model based in unity as the way of doing and living. They have united agave farmers and producers generating social and economic development. Unión is one of the brands that has led the way into making mezcal the fastest growing category in the world for the last five years (www.mezcalunion.com).

1 Source: Mexico, ISCAM On Trade FM 2021

Source: Diageo