We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Lorena Carreño a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Lorena, appreciate you joining us today. We’d love to have you retell us the story behind how you came up with the idea for your business, I think our audience would really enjoy hearing the backstory.

I am from Oaxaca, I was born and grew up there, with mezcal always present. A distillate that was very little valued until it obtained the Denomination of Origin, the idea of ​​having our brand arose then, our family always had mezcal, but we decided to put our last name on it and create a brand. My parents sent me to Mexico City to study for a university degree and I did it, I also did a master’s degree and a series of leadership, business and marketing courses, I also studied to be a sommelier and got my diploma, this has been a great help now .

The world of mezcal is fascinating, because of its history, its process, because of the cultural legacy that it brings with it and because of its pairing with food; Talking about soils, climates, typicities and variety of plants is an endless universe, the best thing is that we have the vast majority of these endemic plants in Oaxaca, we know the process, we have land, why not venture into the industry? It seems that everything was very easy, but it is not like that, there must be a strategic planning in the business,

Even though there are many brands in the mezcal category, we get ours with our last name, because quality, family passion and the roots of our roots unites us. Over time the business matured and grew and many people told me and continue to tell me “how lucky you are” but it’s not luck, it’s the result of a long road full of obstacles that the government puts up to be an entrepreneur in Mexico.

The first thing was to seek family financing for production, in parallel, the registration of trademarks, certifications, payment of memberships in specific unions of the sector, payment of fees to each government agency involved with our business object was carried out. Records before the Public Treasury for the payment of taxes, notices to the dependencies on health risks, search for suppliers for containers and packaging, transportation, hiring of internal personnel and external advisors in accounting, legal, and foreign trade areas. And so an endless list of offices that are added to a business ecosystem that is not over yet.

In my experience, overnight success is usually the result of years of hard work to lay the foundations for that success, people don’t see that, they don’t know how much taxes are paid, and they think your product is expensive. without stopping to think about all that the costs of production, certification, packaging, logistics, etc. imply. I have learned a lot from many people, but I think the main teaching comes from my parents, I am from the culture of effort, hard work and on my own merits, that is why I have embraced this project so much.

Today, two decades later, the business is definitely bigger than when it started, and this was possible because we had a clear objective, with attainable goals every five years. One of the most significant moments that I can narrate is having an exportable product, of great quality, with all the correct regulations and certifications and later seeing it on the bar in prestigious places in other countries such as Japan, Russia or the United States.

This leads you to make decisions every day and to look for business partners, importers, distributors or suppliers, who have the same philosophy and corporate values. From gender equity to sustainability issues.

Mezcal Carreño has won different prizes in national and international competitions, San Francisco World Spirits Competition awarded us in 2020 with the Double Gold medal and Best of Class for our emblem label, that motivates us to continue innovating, producing but above all to take care of the quality of our agave-based distillates.

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

My grandfather started with the production of Mezcal in 1904 at the Hacienda Carreño, the mezcal was made in small batches because it was for his own consumption and that of the workers of the hacienda, it was at that time an undervalued distillate.

Today my son and I are proud to be the third and fourth generation continuing this legacy. We would like consumers and lovers of mezcal to know that making this distillate has a hard job behind it, from caring for the plants for a minimum of 8 years in the case of Espadín and up to 30 for an Arroqueño; In addition to the jima, cooking, fermentation and distillation take a very careful process to obtain a quality mezcal.

So when you drink mezcal, remember that there are many people involved.

How’d you build such a strong reputation within your market?

The consistency in doing what I say. The construction of the brand is an everyday job, from the care of the label, the bottle, the cap, and of course the liquid. As well as sustainability. At Mezcal Carreño we are committed to the environment and we reforest each plant that is harvested with two or three more.

Our philosophy is to work together with our community and do what we say, helping the indigenous communities of Oaxaca and preserving the culture, our legacy, and above all the quality.

We’d love to hear your thoughts about selling platforms like Amazon/Etsy vs selling on your own site.

We are a small company, and we wanted to enter the sale of our products through ecommerce. When making our site we use the advantages that technology gives us to sell nationwide with our own eCommerce; but also with other marketplaces such as Mercado Libre and Amazon.

Mercado Libre was a little easier to set up and they logically charge commissions for delivery, and delivery logistics. For small companies, sales go through commissions and platform fees. In the case of Amazon it was very difficult to register us because it is an alcoholic beverage and there were many steps to follow, we have managed to enter and we are experiencing sales through this channel. The advantages with Amazon is the sale in 3 countries by the Free Trade Agreement that exists between Mexico, Canada and the United States.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.mezcalcarreno.com
• Instagram: @mezcalcarreno
• Facebook: MezcalCarreno
• Youtube: Mezcal Carreno

Image Credits
Credits: Hacienda Carreño or Mezcal Carreño