Mexico News Daily CEO Travis Bembenek analyzes how increased labor (and other) costs have put pressure on businesses in Mexico, making services more expensive and potentially, less valuable to customers. (Cuartoscuro)
As I have written about previously, Mexico is getting more expensive (particularly some parts), and businesses in Mexico are facing a delicate balance right now between labor costs and labor productivity, as they have seen their costs skyrocket over the past few years.
Of course conceptually, the idea of workers making more money is a good thing — especially in certain parts of Mexico and certain industries that have historically had very low wages.
However, in reality, things are not quite that simple for businesses. It is critical for the increased wages to be accompanied by increased labor productivity. Not getting this balance right results in a workforce that ultimately is not cost-competitive or worse still, in a diminished product or service offered to customers.
In some industries, I have seen encouraging signs of getting it right. Examples include many advanced manufacturing industries like automotive, auto parts, aerospace, and medical devices that are investing in both technology and training to improve the productivity of their workers. I am also optimistic about the investments of productivity enabling companies like Amazon Web Services and Microsoft in Mexico that bring technologies and training to many professional services workers across large and small businesses.
Where I see a concerning trend playing out is with more basic service (think restaurants, hotels, stores) and construction industry workers. Many employers in these sectors in the past have not invested much in technology and training of their workers quite simply because they didn’t need to. Labor was cheap and plentiful and so it was more profitable to have low-cost unskilled workers, than invest in training and technology to improve worker productivity. This is no longer the case, and unfortunately as a result, I am increasingly seeing companies cut back on their work force to save costs. If this is not done in a thoughtful manner, it can result in a lower quality of service being delivered. Let me share an example.
Just this past week I was in Tulum for a few days. Prices there for many goods and services have increased dramatically from where they were historically, and now even relative to many parts of the United States. I increasingly saw businesses that had reduced their labor headcount in an effort to reduce costs. Restaurants, hotels, stores, pretty much everywhere I went, all had fewer employees than there would have been in the past.
Fewer employees that were dedicated to serve customers, keep things clean, do routine maintenance and make for an enjoyable customer experience. The reduced value versus the cost of what I was paying for was painfully apparent — and many of the employees I saw seemed overworked, frustrated and under-trained.
This could create a big problem for these businesses.
If customers don’t perceive value in what they are paying for, they aren’t satisfied and often won’t come back. Think about when you have had a bad restaurant experience somewhere — the odds of you returning go down dramatically.
This isn’t just a “Mexico” or “Tulum” problem. For example, recently Starbucks Inc released sales and profit results globally for the first quarter of the year that hugely disappointed investors. The CEO, on a painful earnings call, explained that they “did a poor job providing value to their customers, and as a result, customer visits were down.”
In other words, they probably raised their prices too much without also raising the customer value by an equal amount. It is critical for a business to get this balance right or they will likely lose customers, sales and profits.
The reaction to this problem is often further cutting costs, which only exacerbates the problem. In defense of business owners, the cost increases have increased so quickly that the problem is not easy to solve. However, it is precisely those businesses that invest in their employees through training and technology, even in relatively low-technology industries, that will survive and thrive.
As I was leaving the Riviera Maya area on our way to the airport, I passed an employee shuttle of the Belmond Maroma hotel on the highway. The employee shuttle was one of the nicest I have ever seen — unlike many employee shuttles throughout Mexico — and clearly was an example of the investment the company is making in their employees.
The shuttle had a slogan written in English, Spanish and Mayan on it: “Our employees are the heart of our company.”
More companies in Mexico will need to start thinking and acting similarly if they are going to survive in these increasingly complicated times.
Travis Bembenek is the CEO of Mexico News Daily and has been living, working or playing in Mexico for over 27 years.
When you think of Mexican wine, Aguascalientes may not be the first state that jumps to mind - but the region is rich in outstanding vineyards. (Viñedos Santa Elena)
As I wandered through rows of bushy green grape vines, whose perfect lines created a direct view towards a jagged spine of mountains in the distance, I had to pause to remember where I was. Fat clumps of purply-black grapes hung heavily from the branches. The faint sound of music echoed from the open-air patio of the winery’s main building — an industrial-chic, charcoal-colored structure with soaring ceilings and lovely views. Strings of Edison bulb lights dangled above rustic tables made out of wooden beams and barrels, while the earthy, wet smell of fermenting wine permeated throughout the dark, stony interior of the cave.
This wasn’t a hipster winery in Napa, nor was it even one in Valle de Guadalupe. This was Vinicola Santa Elena just outside Aguascalientes, Mexico — and it’s one of the main wineries helping to put Aguascalientes wine on the map.
Aguascalientes: North America’s next big wine region?
A map of Aguascalientes’ wine route. The state is home to a number of outstanding, but criminally underrated wineries. (Lugtur)
Among Mexico’s many indigenous beverages, its wines are growing in global recognition. Wine regions like Valle de Guadalupe in Baja California and Valle de Parras in Coahuila are among the most famous in the country. Valle de Guadalupe is considered one of the great international wine destinations. But wine production in Mexico extends across 14 states, and the wines of Aguascalientes deserve a seat at (or on) the table.
Aguascalientes’ wineries may not have the global recognition of those in Napa Valley or Bordeaux, but what they lack in fame, they make up for in charm and authenticity. Set against the backdrop of the region’s stunning landscapes, vineyards like Vinicola Santa Elena offer visitors a chance to wander through acres of meticulously tended vines while learning about the winemaking process from passionate experts.
Here, tradition is honored, with many wineries still employing age-old techniques passed down through generations. Yet, innovation is also embraced, as local vintners experiment with new grape varietals and winemaking methods. This gives a diverse array of wines that reflect both the region’s history and its future.
Aguascalientes, while one of the smallest states in Mexico, is the fifth-largest wine-producing region in the country. With an average elevation of more than 6,500 feet above sea level, it is also one of Mexico’s highest-elevation wine regions. The semi-dry climate makes Aguascalientes a prime region for growing popular grapes like Nebbiolo, Malbec, and Sauvignon Blanc. But Aguascalientes is known for many more varietals, including Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Cabernet Franc, Syrah, Garnacha Blanca, Chenin Blanc, Viognier, and Tempranillo.
The wine tradition here dates back more than 400 years. It began with Catholic Monks fermenting wine for church ceremonies. For centuries after this, the wine region sat relatively quiet until the grape-growing resurgence in the early 20th century. Today, only 25 percent of the grapes in Aguascalientes turn into wine, so if you’re able to snag a bottle, you’re sipping something exclusive.
La ruta del vino
Fiestas de la Vendimia de la Ruta del Vino Aguascalientes
One of the best ways to explore the wine route of Aguascalientes is to literally follow its Ruta del Vino. Aguascalientes has more than 740 acres of vineyards, divided among 16 wineries. Along the route, visitors can pop into local cheese shops and tour the historic haciendas.
The Ruta del Vino continues through the state visiting several other wineries, as well as farms and artisanal shops that offer products that pair perfectly with Aguascalientes wine. Goaty Cheeses, for example, is an artisanal cheese shop that opened in 2015 specializing in goat cheese. While visiting the shop, foodies will have the opportunity to taste cheeses and pick out the perfect cheese to pair with a bottle of wine.
Fincas Cuatro Caminos is another special place to taste Aguascalientes. The estate is blanketed with thousands of olive trees and their main product is the artisanal Arturo Macias olive oil.
Of course, the main reason to tour the Ruta del Vino is to sample the good stuff — the wine. Aguascalientes’ wine production, while small, is quickly gaining international attention. The state snagged eight medals in the Mexico Selection by Concours Mondial de Bruxelles Guanajuato 2021 competition. Judges from Europe and the Americas came together for blind tastings and ultimately awarded two Grand Gold Medals, three Gold Medals, and three Silver Medals to the wines of Aguascalientes. Vinicola Santa Elena took home the Gold Medal in the 2023 Concours Mondial Bruxelles competition.
The perfect Mexican weekend break
A weekend in Aguascalientes wine country pairs perfectly with a trip to a luxury spa. Luckily there are several to choose from along the way. (Casa Legato Spa)
With so many stops along the Ruta del Vino, visitors can turn a wine-tasting weekend into a wellness journey. Several hotels within the region have opportunities to combine both wine and wellness. Casa Legato Spa Resort, for example, shows off 12 charming villas and the Tesoro de Agua Spa and Wellness Center. The spa has an impressive list of rituals, massages, and facials, including a Wine Antioxidant ritual. Think exfoliation with grape seed and a massage, followed by a wine-based mask and body wrap. The entire experience concludes with a tasting of house red paired with a cheese board.
Aguascalientes may not be the first destination that comes to mind when thinking of wine tourism, but it’s certainly one that deserves attention and a seat at the dinner table.
Meagan Drillinger is a New York native who has spent the past 15 years traveling around and writing about Mexico. While she’s on the road for assignments most of the time, Puerto Vallarta is her home base. Follow her travels on Instagram at @drillinjourneys or through her blog at drillinjourneys.com.
The Roma fashion revolution has now reached Mexico's traditional markets, with the Mercado el 100 offering a stylish, modern take on traditional street vendors. (Mercado el 100)
Every Sunday morning in Plaza del Lanzador in Roma Sur, a stylish international crowd gathers to stock up on their weekly produce, scope out the scene…and to be seen. This is Mercado el 100, Mexico City.
A neighborhood staple since 2010, Mercado el 100 draws in the fashionable, the hipster expats, celebrity chefs, discerning locals, curious tourists and gastronomes alike. Learn about the history of the trendy open-air market, its offerings, and the must-visit vendors.
Few places in Mexico City are nicer to spend a sunny afternoon than Mercado 100. (Mónica Belot)
Mercado el 100’s Origins & Philosophy
Mercado el 100’s name reflects its philosophy centered around locality, both in its vendors and its produce. With a collective of over 50 organic farmers and artisans — predominantly family businesses – the market exclusively showcases sourced within a 100-kilometer radius of Mexico City. While the Mercado’s prices are often higher than those of traditional markets in Mexico City, it’s worth checking out for high-quality seasonal produce, tasty options and unique finds (and of course, the people-watching). Perhaps most importantly, the market is pet-friendly, so don’t forget to keep an eye out for the adorable pups scampering around and socializing to the beat of live musicians playing their catchy tunes at the plaza.
Set against the backdrop of the López Velarde Park and Garden, the vendor stalls flank a spacious path, and offer everything from handmade soaps, to fresh fruits and vegetables, handmade crafts, clay cooking pots, Mayan chocolate, fresh breads and natural cheeses. Also available is prepared food for a diversity of dietary preferences, including vegan and gluten-free options. The market specializes in some hard-to-find items, like edible flowers, organic pet food, unique spices and even “medicinal mushrooms” (which we haven’t tried out yet, but intend to). Notably, shoppers will appreciate the availability of non-toxic cleaning products, rounding out Mercado el 100’s focus on health and eco-consciousness.
Must-Visit Vendors in Mercardo 100
While every vendor at Mercado el 100 offers something special, here’s the route we recommend to make the most of your experience at the market.
Kick off your market adventure with a visit to Señora Salsa — on the left hand side as you walk in. There, you can score some tasty baked goods, including a gluten-free banana cake generously peppered with chocolate chips for an energy boost for the stretch ahead. Make sure you try the Señora’s INCREDIBLE Salsa de Semillas (seeds) which features mild yet flavorful chile mora along with a chunky mix of peanuts, sunflower seeds and sesame seeds.
As her name suggests, Señora Salsa sells some of Mexico City’s most delicious salsa at her stall every Sunday. (Mercado el 100)
Head across the way to Dalias & Julietas to choose from a plethora of homegrown loose-leaf teas and – if only to impress your friends with your elevated plating skills – a selection of delicate edible flowers.
If you know anything about eggs, you know that bright orange yolks are an indicator of eggs with a high nutritional value. The eggs at Los Camperos happen to be some of the tastiest and most vibrant in town. These local treasures are sourced from organic, free-range hens, and sold at a reasonable price.
Continue onwards to Simbiotica to pick up some probiotic treats like homemade kimchi meant to tantalize both your palate and microbiome.
An absolute MUST is a stop at Danke Foods, where the chicos running the stall have a minimalistic three products on offer: coconut milk, coconut water and cashew milk– all homemade, and without any chemical-esque additives. This writer’s favorite, by far, is the cashew milk which has a teeny touch of natural sweetener and is drinkable by the gallon (which yours truly is not ashamed to admit she has come close to, on more than one occasion).
Mercado el 100 focuses on more than just healthy produce, with flowers and fresh meat and fish alongside traditional remedies. (Mónica Belot)
Casa Tlalmamatla is where we like to stock up on ready-made foods for the weekdays ahead (although they’re so tasty that they rarely last more than a day in the house). Snag one of Tlalmamatla’s vegan tamales with mushrooms, and their outstanding tortitas (baked fritters). All of the options are mouth-wateringly delicious, but the ones we dream about most are the cauliflower variety and the acelga and queso (swiss chard and cheese) tortitas.
Pick up your weekly fish smoked or fileted at Truchas el Manantial, where you can also score a bonus lesson on fish sourcing and quality from the knowledgeable owners. Their fresh trout (brook or rainbow) is ethically raised in a local, forest-based spring.
Then, mosey on over to Rancho Raudal to pick up your meaty necessities like specialized cuts of beef and lamb, grass-fed and humanely raised. We also make sure to buy their hearty caldo de huesos (bone broth), which has the proper gelatin-like characteristics that a nutritious broth should have.
Pick up your fruits and veggies throughout the market– you’ll find these aplenty, including more exotic varieties like purple cauliflower, blue mushrooms and other produce with unusual qualities.
In a country filled with highly processed food, the simple, organic nature of Mercado el 100 is a breath of fresh air. (Mónica Belot)
End your market sojourn with a very special experience — usually the highlight of our market day — at Otzilotzi, a prepared food stall specializing in clean and healthy natural ingredients. Here, you can sample dishes with a pre-Hispanic bent, including rabbit tinga, mushrooms a la mexicana, nopales (cactus) with scrambled egg, pipián con chilacayote (creamy thick red salsa with slices of figleaf gourd), and tortitas horneadas de acelga (baked swiss chard fritters). We enjoy a taco with as many toppings as it can fit. The delicious seasoning and unique ingredients are genuinely unforgettable. Otzilotzi also provides many of their salsas and toppings to-go; these make a marvelous culinary addition to any dish.
The Perfect Sunday Spot
Grab a treat and have a seat at one of the benches in the sunshine at the end of the market path, where you can keep an eye out for many of the interesting characters frequenting the neighborhood’s Sunday meeting spot.
The market is open from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m., though we recommend arriving early to get the first pick of the best products. After exploring the market, consider a stroll through López Velarde Park and Garden, which borders the plaza. And If your pastry-craving is unsatiated, grab a coffee and blueberry roll nearby at Vulevu Bakery at Córdoba 234, just a stone’s throw away. Whether you’re there for the exotic blue mushrooms or the posh crowd, Mercado el 100 has a lot of something for everyone.
Monica Belot is a writer, researcher, strategist and adjunct professor at Parsons School of Design in New York City, where she teaches in the Strategic Design & Management Program. Splitting her time between NYC and Mexico City, where she resides with her naughty silver labrador puppy Atlas, Monica writes about topics spanning everything from the human experience to travel and design research. Follow her varied scribbles on Medium at https://medium.com/@monicabelot.
Sarah DeVries is back once again with the best Mexican meme round up.
Just because you’ve been living in a pool of your own sweat — those of you in Mexico, anyway — doesn’t mean you can’t enjoy your weekly dose of Mexican memes translated into English!
Sending you a high five from my sweaty hand to yours, with prayers for rain and cool breezes in all our futures.
Meme translation:“There are two things I don’t publish on social media: my money and my partner. Not because I’m mysterious, but because I don’t have either.”
What does it meme? Well, it’s the thought that counts, I suppose! Privacy these days is an illusion anyway.
Meme translation:“Hey… what year is it?”
“173 Before Christ.”
“Who’s Christ?”
“No idea.”
What does it meme? This one cracked me up because I’ve always wondered how people in the “B.C.” era counted their own years… before and after the agricultural revolution, perhaps?
“Like going out with them, or like you’re hallucinating?”
What does it meme? Besides being cute, this meme makes for a good little Spanish lesson.
“To see someone” means the same thing in English as “ver a alguien” does in Spanish — at last, an actual translatable phrase in which the various meanings are the same! Those can be hard to find, I know.
And by the way, if you’re wondering about why it’s “ver” and not “mirar,” it’s simply the difference between “see” and “look at.”
Meme translation:“The important thing is to eat a wide variety of food.”
“Me choosing six different types of bread.”
What does it meme? If there’s ever an excuse presented for eating more pan dulce, I will 100% take it every time.
If you haven’t been inside a traditional Mexican bakery, you’re missing out. It took me a bit initially to get used to the drier consistency — they’re usually dipped in coffee, milk or hot chocolate — but once I did, I was all in. Go ahead, try every kind!
Meme translation: “Well I do like it when people give me little gifts made out of paper… the deed to a property, for example.”
What does it meme? The generation of workers who will never be able to afford to buy anything but a tiny sliver of property is upon us, on both sides of the border. For many, their only hope is inheriting something from an older, richer generation.
Even so, no one wants to seem shallow or“interesado,” the adjective we’d use for someone who’s only interested in someone’s money. So whether it’s an origami rose or a deed to a house, hey — we’ll take it!
Meme translation: “Today I’m going to look fabulous!”
“Good morning every…!”
“This damn sun is the worst…”
“Yeah, just horrible!”
What does it meme? Poor sun. It’s coming out for all of us, and who appreciates it?
With temperatures reaching painful highs all over Mexico in the past few weeks, it’s been hard to appreciate the lovely golden rays beating down on all of us.
By the way, a note on the vocabulary: we covered “pinche” a few week ago in my article on curse words, but not “culero,” which is also a bad word that can mean everything from coward to asshole to something terrible.
Meme translation: “No amount of self-love can replace the support of a community.”
What does it meme? This one is sweet rather than funny, and it’s one of the many lessons that I think we can all learn from Mexican culture. You might get tired of spending 6-hour Sunday dinners with the family or having to show up to every cousin’s birthday party, but hey: it beats the loneliness of isolation every time and there’s no replacing real face-to-face support and community.
Sarah DeVries is a writer and translator based in Xalapa, Veracruz. She can be reached through her website, sarahedevries.substack.com.
Lucero López Maza, candidate for mayor of La Concordia, Chiapas, was killed in a shooting on Thursday after a campaign event. (Gaby Coutino/X)
A mayoral candidate was one of six people shot dead in the municipality of La Concordia, Chiapas, on Thursday, the second mass killing in the southern state this week.
Lucero López Maza, mayoral aspirant for the Partido Popular Chiapaneco in La Concordia, was killed along with one other woman, a girl and three men, according to the Chiapas Attorney General’s Office (FGE).
The FGE said in a statement that “a confrontation occurred between armed civilians during a campaign political event with the presence of the candidate … Lucero López Maza.”
However, several media reports said that the candidate was shot as she was traveling in a vehicle after a campaign event. It was unclear whether gunmen specifically targeted her. Video footage showed bodies on the ground and inside a car at a gas station in the municipality.
President Andrés Manuel López Obrador said Friday that the candidate’s sister was among those killed in La Concordia, a municipality in the south of Chiapas adjacent to Chicomuselo, where 11 people were killed in a massacre last Sunday.
Chiapas authorities open criminal investigation
The FGE said it had begun an “investigation against the person or persons responsible for the acts of violence in which six people lost their lives.”
The president said on Friday that the candidate’s sister was another victim of the mass shooting. (lopezobrador.org.mx)
The FGE said that it was alerted to the killings by a local 911 emergency center that reported “a confrontation between armed civilians at the crossroads in the Independencia neighborhood in the municipality of La Concordia.”
“Officers with the State Preventive Police, as first responders, confirmed the death of six people: three females, one of whom was a minor, and three males,” the FGE said, adding that two people received gunshot wounds.
La Concordia is part of a region of Chiapas where the Sinaloa Cartel and the Jalisco New Generation Cartel (CJNG) and their local affiliates have been involved in a turf war for some time. There was a gun battle between cartel operatives and the National Guard in the municipality last month in which around 25 civilians were killed, according to the Fray Bartolomé de las Casas Human Rights Center.
López Maza speaks at a campaign event before her death. (Gaby Coutino/X)
Alleged connections to organized crime
The newspaper El Financiero reported that the slain candidate’s father, Ataulfo López Flores, is a rancher in La Concordia and that a criminal group set his ranch on fire a few weeks ago, torched vehicles and killed several workers. It also said that López Flores has been accused of “belonging to an organized crime group that’s fighting against another” group for control of local territory.
The Sinaloa Cartel and the CJNG are competing to control routes along which narcotics, weapons and migrants are transported north after entering the country from Guatemala.
At least three other mayoral candidates have been targeted in gun attacks in Chiapas this year, but they all survived. Another attack earlier this month targeted Juan Gómez Morales, candidate for the Chiapas United Party in the municipality of Benemérito de las Américas. He survived, but the attack killed his son and a candidate vying to become a municipal councilor.
The think tank Laboratorio Electoral reported last Friday that 63 people “linked to the [current] electoral process” had been murdered.
Of that number, 32 were registered candidates or aspired to contest the June 2 elections at which Mexicans will elect some 20,000 municipal, state and federal representatives.
Voters will elect new governors in eight states on June 2. In part two of our guide to the governors' elections, we cover Puebla, Tabasco, Veracruz and Yucatán. (Joaquín Díaz Mena/X)
While the main focus of the upcoming elections is the presidential contest between Claudia Sheinbaum, Xóchitl Gálvez and Jorge Álvarez Máynez, Mexicans will in fact elect around 20,000 federal, state and municipal representatives on June 2.
In eight states, citizens will elect new governors to serve six-year terms that will conclude in 2030.
Two alliances are backing candidates in most of Mexico’s governors’ elections, while the Citizens Movement (MC) party is also fielding candidates.
One alliance is Sigamos Haciendo Historia (Let’s Keep Making History), made up of the Morena party, the Labor Party (PT) and the Ecological Green Party of Mexico (PVEM).
The other is Fuerza y Corazón por México (Strength and Heart for Mexico), made up of the National Action Party (PAN), the Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI) and the Democratic Revolution Party (PRD).
Of the eight states where citizens will elect new governors this year, Morena — the party founded by President Andrés Manuel López Obrador — currently governs five, the PAN is in office in two and MC holds one.
Ballots arrive in Puebla, one of the eight states that will elect a new governor on June 2. (Cuartoscuro)
Here’s a guide to Mexico’s governors’ elections in four of the eight states where new governors will be elected on June 2.
Martha Érika Alonso was killed in a helicopter accident on Christmas Eve 2018 just 10 days after she was sworn in as governor. Her husband, former governor Rafael Moreno Valle, was also killed in the crash.
In 2023, Puebla was the 13th most violent state in Mexico in terms of total homicides with a total of 967 murders, according to federal government data. The theft of fuel from pipelines is a significant problem in the state.
Alejandro Armenta Mier (Morena-PT-PVEM)
Armenta, a former state and federal lawmaker and minister for social development in the Puebla government in the mid 2000s, was formerly affiliated with the PRI. He joined Morena in 2017 and went on to represent that party in the Senate.
Armenta is Morena’s candidate in the Puebla race, and currently leads in polls. (Alejandro Armenta/X)
A native of the city of Izucár de Matamoros, Armenta was Senate president for 12 months between September 2022 and August 2023. He has undergraduate and master’s degrees in public administration.
🌐📱(Social media monitor): In a recent post to his X account, Armenta declared that “supporting micro, small and medium-sized businesses” will be “fundamental” for a government he leads because “they provide 80% of the jobs in the country.”
In another post, he asserted that “without women nothing” is possible, while “with women everything” is.
“… It’s the time for women and the best example we have is Dr. Claudia Sheinbaum, the next president of Mexico. We’re going to make the most of her experience to connect Puebla to the Interoceanic Train,” Armenta wrote, referring to the modernized railroad between the Pacific coast in Oaxaca and the Gulf coast in Veracruz.”
“We’re going to get on the train of transformation!” he added
Eduardo Rivera Pérez (PAN-PRI-PRD)
Rivera was mayor of Puebla until last December when he gave up that position to turn his attention to the June 2 gubernatorial election. The México state native also served as mayor of the state capital between 2011 and 2014. Before that he was a federal and state deputy.
Rivera is a former mayor of the city of Puebla and is now running for governor on the PAN-PRI-PRD ticket. (Eduardo Rivera/X)
The 52-year-old has a political science degree and a master’s in public management.
🌐📱: “In my government, with the creation of the Ministry for Water and the Environment, we will guarantee equitable access to water, end the waste [of water], promote the capture of rainwater, strengthen infrastructure and promote a culture of care for the environment,” Rivera said in a post to his X account of Tuesday.
In a post on Monday, he said that a government he leads would offer more than 6 billion pesos (US $356 million) in interest-free loans to people seeking to open a new business or grow an existing one.
Fernando Morales Martínez (Citizens Movement)
Morales is the son of former Puebla governor Melquíades Morales Flores, who governed the state for the PRI between 1999 and 2005.
The candidate was formerly affiliated with the same party, which he represented in the Puebla and federal Congresses. He switched his allegiance to MC in 2017 and went on to represent that party in the Puebla Congress.
Morales has a law degree and postgraduate qualifications in public administration and Latin American studies.
The Citizens Movement (MC) candidate for governor in Puebla, Fernando Morales is the son of a former governor. (Fernando Morales Mtz/X)
🌐📱: “Wellbeing, tranquility and peace will be a reality for every family in Puebla in my government,” the MC candidate wrote in a post to his X account on Monday.
In another recent post to X, Morales said that “families who have lost a loved one without knowing anything about him or her should have the complete support of the government in their search.”
Who’s going to win?
Armenta has a healthy lead over Rivera in the polls and barring a significant upset will win the June 2 election.
On June 2, voters in Puebla will also elect 41 state deputies and officials including mayors in all 217 municipalities.
Tabasco
Population: 2.4 million.
Capital: Villahermosa
Current governor: Carlos Manuel Merino Campos (Morena)
Tabasco, the Gulf coast state where President López Obrador was born in 1953, has been governed by Morena since Jan. 1, 2019 after Adán Augusto López Hernández won the 2018 gubernatorial election. López gave up the governorship in 2021 to become federal interior minister, handing the reins of Tabasco to Carlos Manuel Merino Campos.
Four candidates are competing to succeed Merino and become governor of Tabasco, a state that has received significant investment during López Obrador’s administration due to the construction of infrastructure projects including the Olmeca Refinery and the Maya Train railroad.
Javier May Rodríguez (Morena-PT-PVEM)
May served as welfare minister in the current federal government for around 16 months before taking up the position of director general of the National Tourism Promotion Fund, the agency that is managing the Maya Train project. He previously served as a federal senator and a deputy in Tabasco, the state where he was born in 1966.
Javier May is the Morena candidate for governor of Tabasco. (Javier May/X)
May has had a long affiliation with López Obrador, participating in the current president’s campaign when he ran for governor of Tabasco in 1994. Like AMLO, the candidate was formerly affiliated with the PRD. He joined Morena in 2015.
🌐📱: “We’re going to modernize Tabasco … with great projects that will change the history of our entity,” May said in a recent post to his X account in which he pledged to build 20,000 public housing dwellings and new port facilities in Frontera, a town on the coast of the municipality of Centla.
“We’re going to look after and continue the legacy the president leaves us,” the candidate said in another post, echoing Claudia Sheinbaum’s pitch to voters.
“The people will prevent the return of the bad PRI, PAN and PRD governments,” May added.
Lorena Beaurregard de los Santos (PAN-PRI)
Beaurregard served as a federal deputy in the early 2000s and a state deputy between 2010 and 2012. She was born in the same municipality as López Obrador – Macuspana – but nine years after the president. Beaurregard has long been affiliated with the PRI, and will represent that party and the PAN in the upcoming gubernatorial election.
🌐📱: “I’m the candidate who has risen the most in the polls,” the candidate declared in a post to her X account on Tuesday.
Beurregard has been a member of the PRI for many years and represents a PAN-PRI coalition in Tabasco. (Lorena Beaurregard/X)
“We’ve achieved it with the support of the parties of the Strength and Heart for Tabasco coalition, but also because of the affection of many citizens who are fed up with backwardness and poverty, unemployment and insecurity,” she wrote.
“I want to be your governor because I know we can change the course of #Tabasco!” Beaurregard said in another post.
Juan Manuel Fócil Pérez (PRD)
Fócil took leave as a federal senator to contest the gubernatorial election as the candidate for the PRD. Unlike in most other states, the PRD is fielding its own candidate in the gubernatorial contest in Tabasco, opting against joining forces with the PAN and the PRI. Fócil has previously served as a federal and state deputy. He has a bachelor’s degree in economics.
Fócil is running on the PRD ticket. (FB)
🌐📱: In a post to his Facebook page this week, Fócil said that he believes that “a government must be permanently accountable” to citizens by constantly updating them on things such as how public money is being spent.
“I assure you that when I am governor I will keep you permanently informed about what the money of Tabasco residents is spent on,” he said after blasting the current state government for failing to build health care, highway and educational infrastructure.
María Inés de la Fuente Dagdug (Citizens Movement)
De la Fuente was head of the Tabasco Civil Registry for several years in the first decade of the 2000s and served as honorary president of the DIF family services agency in Huimanguillo between 2010 and 2012 when her husband was mayor of that municipality. She was previously affiliated with the PRI and represented that party at the 2018 mayoral election in Huimanguillo.
The MC candidate for governor of Tabasco (center), María Inés de la Fuente was previously a member of the PRI. (María Inés de la Fuente/FB)
The candidate has an undergraduate degree in law and a master’s in management and public policy.
🌐📱: In a post to her Facebook page this week, de la Fuente said that a government she leads would build three new industrial parks, “creating at least 5,000 jobs” and a “housing construction boom” in the areas of Tabasco where they will be located.
She also pledged to attract advanced manufacturers to the state and to work toward making Tabasco “a great logistics and distribution center.”
In the same post, the MC candidate promised to decrease levels of informal employment and increase the number of people in formal sector jobs in Tabasco.
Who’s going to win?
May has a decisive advantage in the polls, making him the heavy favorite to become the next governor of Tabasco.
On June 2, voters in Tabasco will also elect 35 state deputies and officials including mayors in all 17 municipalities.
Veracruz
Population: 8.1 million.
Capital: Xalapa
Current governor: Cuitláhuac García (Morena)
Veracruz is unique in Mexico insofar as it is the only state in the country that adjoins a northern border state (Tamaulipas) and a southern border state (two, in fact – Chiapas and Tabasco). The Gulf state was ruled by the PRI for decades before the PAN seized power in 2016 after the corruption-plagued term of former governor Javier Duarte. The Veracruz government changed again in 2018 after Cuitláhuac García won the gubernatorial election that year for Morena.
Three candidates are vying to become the next governor of the state, Mexico’s fourth most populous entity after México state, Mexico City and Jalisco.
Rocío Nahle García (Morena-PT-PVEM)
Nahle, a 60-year-old Zacatecas native, served as energy minister in the current federal government for almost five years before leaving that position to focus on the gubernatorial election. A chemical engineer by profession, the Morena candidate worked at Pemex early in her career, while she was a senator for a brief period before taking up the energy minister position. Nahle has also served as a federal deputy.
Rocío Nahle was previously Mexico’s energy minister during the López Obrador administration. (Cuartoscuro)
🌐📱: On her X account, the Morena candidate has pledged to provide ample support for Veracruz’s agricultural sector, including apiarists and coffee producers.
“Veracuz produces the best coffee in the world, and our countryside, as well as its producers will have THE COMPLETE SUPPORT OF MY GOVERNMENT,” Nahle said in a post this week.
In another post, she pledged to make Veracruz a “fashionable” tourism destination once again before asserting that previous government’s “destroyed” the state’s tourism industry.
Tourism is Veracruz’s “main vocation,” Nahle said, adding that the 4T, or fourth transformation – the nickname for the Morena party and its political project – will “trigger” economic growth in “every region” of the state.
José Francisco Yunes Zorrilla (PAN-PRI-PRD)
Yunes, a former federal deputy and senator, also contested the 2018 gubernatorial election in Veracruz, attracting 14% of the vote to finish third. At that election, he represented the PRI whereas in 2024 he will also have the support of the PAN and the PRD.
A native of the city Perote, Yunes served as mayor of that municipality between 1998 and 2000. The candidate has also served as a state deputy. He has an undergraduate degree in management and a master’s in public policy.
José Francisco Yunes is running for governor of Veracruz on the PRI-PAN-PRD ticket. (Cuartoscuro)
🌐📱: “The proposals we have for young people come from young people themselves,” Yunes said in a post to his X account this week.
“I understand their fears, listen to their ambitions and know about their concerns. I will use all my experience to change the course of Veracruz so that you can take advantage,” he added.
In another post, the PAN-PRI-PRD candidate pledged to create a “specialized” police unit to combat extortion, a major problem for business owners in various parts of Mexico.
Hipólito Deschamps (Citizens Movement)
Previously affiliated with the PAN, Deschamps served as a state deputy in Veracruz between 2016 and 2018. He also has experience as a councilor in the municipality of Boca del Río, where he served as the local government’s director of economic development for a period. Polo Deschamps, as he is commonly known, is 41 years old and has a law degree.
The MC candidate for governor, Hipólito Deschamps (left), was previously a member of the PAN party. (Polo Deschamps/X)
🌐📱: “Veracruz, you deserve a new quality of life,” the MC candidate said in a post to his X account on Thursday.
“As governor I will guarantee universal access to health care, support culture and invest in your education,” he added.
In another post, Deschamps pledged to provide 50,000-peso (US $3,000) loans to female entrepreneurs.
“Let’s go for the best Veracruz in history!” he added.
Who’s going to win?
Polls indicate that Nahle will be very hard to beat in Veracruz.
An El Financiero newspaper poll whose results were published in late April found that the former energy minister had 44% support, ahead of Yunes on 29% and Deschamps on 3%. Stripping out the 24% of undecided respondents, support for Nahle increased to 58%, putting her 20 points ahead of the PAN-PRI-PRD candidate.
Voters in Veracruz will also elect 50 state deputies on June 2.
Yucatán
Population: 2.3 million
Capital: Mérida
Current governor: Mauricio Vila (National Action Party) – currently on leave as he campaigns for a seat in the federal Senate.
The state was governed by the PRI for most of the 20th century, but it has had two PAN governors, and two PRI governors, this century.
Four candidates are competing to become the next governor of Yucatán, which during two periods in the 19th century was an independent republic.
Renán Barrera Concha (PAN-PRI)
Barrera is aiming to follow in the footsteps of Mauricio Vila by transitioning from the mayorship of Mérida to the governorship of Yucatán. The 45-year-old candidate was mayor of the state capital from 2018 until last November, when he stood down to focus on the upcoming gubernatorial contest. Barrera also served as Mérida mayor between 2012 and 2015 and was a state deputy from 2010 to 2012. He has a law degree and a postgraduate qualification in public administration.
PAN-PRI candidate Renán Barrera was the mayor of Mérida until he stepped down in November to run for governor. (Renán Barrera/X)
🌐📱: After visiting a textiles factory in the municipality of Baca this week, Barrera said in a post to his X account that a government he leads will provide ample support for the textiles industry “because thousands of Yucatán families live from this important sector and we want them to do well, to have more security and a better quality of life.”
“In my government we will work very closely with the Yucatán Human Rights Commission to promote, respect and also guarantee … human rights in Yucatán,” he said in another post.
Joaquín Díaz Mena (Morena-PT-PVEM)
Known as “Huacho,” Díaz was the federal government’s “super-delegate” in Yucatán for almost five years, a position that gave him responsibility for the implementation of social and welfare programs in the state.
Morena candidate Joaquín “Huacho” Díaz also ran for governor in Yucatán in 2018. (Joaquín Díaz Mena/X)
He previously served as a federal and state deputy and was Morena’s gubernatorial candidate at the 2018 election in Yucatán. Díaz also contested the 2012 gubernatorial election in Yucatán, representing the PAN, with which he was previously affiliated.
A native of San Felipe on Yucatán’s Gulf coast, the Morena candidate was mayor of that municipality between 2001 and 2004.
🌐📱: “In Morena, our premise is clear: we create humanist governments, we govern with values that prioritize respect, inclusion and equality for all citizens,” Díaz said in a post to his X account this week.
“Yucatán is ready to transform itself,” he said in another post. “Hand in hand with Claudia Sheinbaum, we will boost investment and development in Yucatán so that wellbeing reaches all families and municipalities.”
Jasmín López Manrique (PRD)
Also known by the stage name Tina Tuyub, López has been an actress for some 50 years, appearing mainly in theatrical productions. She has previously represented the PRD at the 2018 mayoral election in Mérida and the 2006 federal lower house election. The Mérida native is 66 and and was married to well-known comedic actor Héctor Herrera Álvarez, who died in 2010.
Jasmín López, also known as Tina Tuyub (center), is the PRD candidate for governor of Yucatán. (X)
🌐📱: “Between the government and business owners, we’re going to create a new pact to boost the creation of new jobs and improve salaries,” López said in a recent post to her Instagram account.
Vida Gómez Herrera (Citizens Movement)
Formerly affiliated with the PRI, Gómez previously served as a deputy in the Yucatán state Congress and as head of the youth affairs department in the Mérida municipal government. The 36-year-old has a degree in political science and international relations. She is aiming to become the third female governor of Yucatán.
🌐📱: In a post to her X account this week, Gómez cited water, health care, transport, job creation and energy as among her priorities.
The Citizens Movement candidate for governer, Vida Gómez, says she will bring “More vida for Yucatán.” (Vida Gómez/X)
“The new Yucatán is built with the work of everyone,” she said in the same post.
The MC candidate frequently incorporates her first name — which means life — into her political messaging.
“Give vida to your vote. #VoteForVida #GovernorVida,” she wrote in one X post.
“More vida for Yucatán,” says a political ad posted to her X account.
Who’s going to win?
Polls suggest the election will be a tight contest between Barrera and Díaz.
One poll whose results were published this week shows that Díaz had a five-point lead over Barrera (46%-41%), but another shows the PAN-PRI candidate with an 11-point lead over his Morena rival (46%-35%).
The incumbency of the PAN in Yucatán and Barrera’s recent term as mayor in Mérida — the state’s largest city by far — would appear to give the PAN-PRI candidate the edge over Díaz. Barrera will most likely win on June 2.
* Another key contest on June 2 is the Mexico City mayoral election. Read about the candidates contesting that election here, and check out what the polls indicate here.
All of Mexico News Daily’s 2024 elections coverage, including numerous articles on the presidential election, can be found here.
Bringing Fido to Los Cabos? Make sure you read this guide. (Freepik)
Planning on traveling with your dog from Mexico to the United States? You aren’t alone. About 1 million dogs enter the United States from other countries every year.
If you are crossing the US border into Mexico with a dog — whether the dog is from Mexico or originally from the U.S. — you should be aware of the new dog import requirements established this week by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
Dogs traveling by land, sea or air will all have to comply with the new requirements. (Jimmy Conover/Unsplash)
The CDC says the new rules are to protect the health and safety of people and animals, and prevent the reintroduction of dog rabies to the United States.
The rabies virus — fatal to humans and animals — is very rare in the U.S., where canine rabies was eliminated in 2007.
The stricter rules have come about in response to an increasing number of incomplete or fraudulent rabies vaccination certificates. The CDC raised alarms after four rabid dogs were found to have entered the U.S. since 2015. And last year, Mexican public health authorities issued their own rabies alert, warning of an increase in human rabies cases.
What are the new CDC requirements for dogs entering the U.S.?
The new dog import rules require all dogs entering the United States to be at least six months old (at six months, puppies are old enough to receive vaccinations). All dogs must also have a microchip placed under their skin with a code that verifies rabies vaccination, plus a valid rabies vaccination certificate. A new electronic CDC import form must be filled out, too.
When do the requirements take effect?
The new rules become effective on Aug. 1. If you don’t follow the CDC rules, your dog won’t be allowed to enter the United States and, if you arrive by air, your dog will be sent back to the last country of departure at your expense.
Dog rescue advocates said that new rules were overly restrictive and could be an administrative burden for rescue organizations. (File photo)
What is different from previous requirements?
The CDC does not consider Mexico a high-risk country for rabies and the last verified dog-to-human transfer took place in 2006, so there has been little regulation regarding importing dogs from Mexico to the United States in recent years. Proof of rabies vaccination was occasionally required for air travel or when entering certain U.S. states by car.
What are vets and pet owners saying?
The newspaper The San Diego Reader reported that the CDC did not directly notify veterinarians in the U.S. of the pending rules change, although the CDC’s rule-making process was public and a draft version of the updated regulations was available last year. So, those caught off guard see the new regulations as staggering.
Veterinary Practice News published a report on May 13 that linked to the new CDC rules, but one San Diego vet interviewed by the Reader thought frustrations will grow since glitches are evident and the rule change takes effect in just two months. The CDC’s electronic form won’t be available until July 15, and the recommended timeline suggests beginning the form 2-10 days before crossing the US border with your dog, leaving a narrow window for border-crossers who may not be familiar with the new process. Meeting other pet-importation requirements may take up to 60 days, according to the guidelines. A full list of requirements is available on the CDC website, along with a clunky but useful “DogBot” that can tell you which instructions apply in your case based on a brief questionnaire.
Rescue operations, which abound on both sides of the border, are also bracing for the additional administrative hurdle. One animal rescue employee said that while a rule change was necessary (existing regulations were last updated in 1956), the changes are “overreaching, unnecessary (punitive even), and will place a sizable burden on our small organizations.”
Presidential opposition candidate Xóchitl Gálvez waves a Mexican flag at a rally in Matamoros, Tamaulipas, last week. (Xóchitl Gálvez/X)
Presidential candidate Xóchitl Gálvez will be one of anticipated tens of thousands of people to descend on Mexico City’s central square this Sunday for a rally organized by civil society groups that support or are affiliated with Mexico’s main opposition parties.
So-called Marea Rosa (Pink Tide) demonstrations will be held in more than 90 Mexican and foreign cities on Sunday, but the largest gathering will take place in Mexico City’s Zócalo.
The opposition movement is known as the Marea Rosa because its supporters typically wear pink to demonstrate their support for the National Electoral Institute (INE), which uses pink in its logo. It is not to be confused with the same term as used to describe a shift toward leftist governments across Latin America this century.
In Mexico, many Marea Rosa supporters claim that the INE is under attack by President Andrés Manuel López Obrador, who sought to overhaul the electoral authority with a sweeping electoral reform package that was struck down by the Supreme Court last year. The most recent Marea Rosa demonstration — the so-called “March for our Democracy” — was held in February. Gálvez didn’t attend that rally.
However, at this Sunday’s event in the Zócalo, the candidate for a three-party alliance made up of the National Action Party (PAN), the Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI) and the Democratic Revolution Party (PRD) will be the most prominent speaker. The event, unlike previous Marea Rosa rallies, will thus be more about showing support for Gálvez than the INE.
Max Cortázar, a member of the candidate’s campaign team, said that the rally will be Gálvez’s final campaign event in Mexico City ahead of the June 2 presidential election. He said she will hold other “campaign closure” events in other parts of the country before the official campaign period ends on May 29.
The pink-clad protesters of the ‘Pink Tide’ have showed up across the country in recent years to express support for a robust National Electoral Institute (INE), Mexico’s autonomous electoral oversight body. (Fernando Carranza García/Cuartoscuro)
In a post to social media on Thursday, Gálvez urged people planning to attend Marea Rosa rallies in Mexico City and other parts of the country to take a Mexican flag with them.
“The flag is ours, it belongs to us. Also take your favorite ‘Xochilover’ sign. See you on Sunday,” she said.
The attendees won’t arrive to an empty Zócalo on Sunday morning as teachers affiliated with the CNTE union are camping out there as they seek a larger pay rise than the 10% hike announced by López Obrador on Wednesday.
Guadalupe Acosta, a member of the National Civic Front and one of the organizers of the Marea Rosa rally, told the El Universal newspaper that she didn’t anticipate any problems.
The CNTE members “haven’t made any statement against us,” Acosta said, adding that the Zócalo is “huge” and therefore there is enough space for everyone.
“We’ll have a friendly conversation,” he said.
“… The Marea Rosa demonstration is the event at which we want to explain why we’re not neutral and decided to support Xóchitl and [Mexico City mayoral candidate Santiago] Taboada,” Acosta added.
The Mexican flag frequently flies over Mexico City’s Zócalo. (Wikimedia Commons)
A fuss over the flag
Gálvez — who is currently well behind Morena candidate Claudia Sheinbaum in the polls — revealed on Wednesday that she had written to López Obrador to ask that the Mexican flag be raised in the Zócalo on Sunday. The president said earlier in the week it wouldn’t go up due to the rally.
“This Sunday there will be a massive civic concentration in the Mexico City Zócalo. Hundreds of thousands of Mexicans will exercise their right to free expression of ideas and political preferences,” Gálvez wrote.
“… At previous civic concentrations, the order has been given to not put up the national flag in Constitution Square. May I remind you that the Zócalo is a public square and our national flag is the most important symbol of national unity. The flag can’t be the patrimony of one person or political movement. For that exact reason, I ask you to put up the national flag in the Zócalo, like every Sunday, for the civic concentration on May 19,” the PAN-PRI-PRD candidate said.
On Thursday, López Obrador said that the flag would be raised on Sunday, but added that protective barriers around the National Palace — located opposite the Zócalo — would not be removed.
“The flag will be there on Sunday. There are no bad intentions. There is no bad faith. The flag belongs to all Mexicans,” he said.
Barriers will remain in place “to avoid provocations” and “protect the National Palace, the Cathedral and all the historic buildings,” López Obrador said three days after students attacked the National Palace with firecrackers and injured 26 police officers.
Sheinbaum takes aim at the Marea Rosa
During a campaign visit to Veracruz last week, the Morena candidate asserted that the Marea Rosa supporters wear pink “because they are embarrassed to say they’re from the PRI and the PAN.”
Morena presidential candidate Claudia Sheinbaum framed Marea Rosa supporters as just a new iteration of defenders of the PRI and PAN political parties. (Claudia Sheinbaum/X)
Sheinabum criticized those two parties, saying that they governed Mexico for years but never kept their promises to the people of Mexico.
“Now they say that they agree with the [current government’s welfare and social] programs. No. They voted against [them] in the Chamber of Deputies and in the Senate and every year they vote against the budget, in which [spending on] the social programs is outlined,” she said at an event in the city of Cosamaloapan.
Gálvez has repeated throughout her campaign that she intends to maintain the current government’s welfare and social programs — including the Youths Building the Future apprenticeship scheme and Sowing Life reforestation/employment initiative — if she wins the presidency.
The boat where the Navy found the supposed cocaine also carried three people and 18 drums of a petroleum product. (SEMAR/X)
The Mexican Navy’s narcotics interdiction exercises continue to bear fruit: On Tuesday, the Navy Ministry (SEMAR) announced a drug bust involving more than 3 tonnes of white powder believed to be cocaine, from a boat in waters off the coast of the state of Quintana Roo.
A SEMAR press bulletin indicated that personnel from the Ninth Naval Region and 17th Naval Zone stationed at the Caribbean bases of Isla Mujeres and Chetumal, respectively, were carrying out patrols when they sighted a suspicious vessel.
With Navy aircraft providing support, Navy personnel boarded the suspicious craft and searched its contents. A total of 153 rectangular packages of white powder — weighing in excess of 3 tonnes — was discovered.
In addition, the inspection netted an unspecified amount of a material identified as hydrocarbon hidden in 18 drums. Oil and gas theft — known in Mexico as huachicoleo — is a frequent crime in Mexico.
Three suspects were apprehended and processed in preparation for turning them over to federal authorities for prosecution.
This latest bust follows an April 24 SEMAR announcement that its personnel had confiscated 3 tonnes of presumed cocaine off the Pacific Coast near the port city of Manzanillo, Colima. On April 10, the Mexican Navy shared news of two separate operations in which a total of 2 tonnes of white powder was seized off the Pacific Coast.
Navy personnel spotted the small vessel during a night patrol off the coast of Quintana Roo. (SEMAR/X)
SEMAR set a new record for drug seizures last year, with historic amounts of several different types of illegal drugs reported seized. The Navy also dismantled 15 floating storage platforms used by cartels to move their narcotics north through the Pacific Ocean.
A December 2023 report by the news site Infobae identified the Caribbean as a key corridor for South American cocaine suppliers sending shipments to Mexican distributors.
In addition to shipping the cocaine to hidden ports along the Mexican coast, traffickers fly the product onto the mainland via clandestine air strips in Quintana Roo. SEMAR and the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) identified at least three popular air routes utilized by the Sinaloa Cartel and the Jalisco New Generation Cartel (CJNG) to fly cocaine from Colombia.
The investment will create 94 new jobs at the Silao plant, which already employs 600 people. (Gobierno de Silao)
Nestlé Purina this week announced a US $225 million investment to expand its pet food manufacturing plant in the state of Guanajuato.
The Swiss multinational food and drink processing conglomerate has picked Mexico as a key partner of its growth strategy in Latin America. The new investment is intended to significantly enhance the company’s production in Mexico, according to the news site Reporte Índigo.
In the past 10 years, Nestlé has invested more than US $770 million in its Silao facility. The new investment will make the plant in Guanajuato the biggest of its kind in Latin America. (LinkedIn)
Mexico is the No. 1 Latin American market for Nestlé; its two facilities in Mexico (one in Silao, Guanajuato, the other in Cuautitlán, México state) produce over 200,000 tons of dog and cat food annually.
This makes Nestlé Purina the top supplier of pet food in Mexico, but the two plants have reached maximum operating capacity, necessitating imports from the United States to meet local demand, according to the trade magazine PetFoodIndustry.com.
The announced expansion of the existing plant in Silao, Guanajuato is aimed at reducing its reliance on intracompany imports so as to more efficiently serve the Mexican market, which comprises 45% of Nestlé sales in Latin America. Mexico is also the company’s fourth-largest market in the world.
Last year, Nestlé’s global sales of pet food exceeded US $20.8 billion. Its pet food sales are its second-biggest product category, only behind beverages and powdered drinks.
Nestlé revealed in a press release that the renovation in Guanajuato will allow for a third line of production for wet food and a fourth line of production for dry food. The expansion is expected to increase production capacity of dry food and wet food by 25% and 40%, respectively.
The investment will also result in the creation of 94 new jobs at the Silao plant which already employs 600 people. It is also a positive sign for the Mexican pet food market, which continues to grow, driven by rising pet ownership and increased demand for high-quality pet food products, according to PetFoodIndustry.com.
In the past 10 years, Nestlé has invested more than US $770 million in its Silao facility and the new investment will make the plant in Guanajuato the biggest of its kind in Latin America.
