CATrends: Tequilas Marketed as 100% Agave

Just in time for Cinco de Mayo, a number of popular tequila brands are facing class-action lawsuits accusing them of falsely marketing their products as 100% agave.

Tequila comes from Blue Weber agave, a variety of blue agave native to Mexico. It is made through a process that extracts sugars from the heart of the plant and transforms those sugars into ethanol (aka alcohol), which is then distilled into tequila.

But several tequila brands marketed as 100% agave – including Casamigos, Don Julio and Costco’s Kirkland Signature – allegedly contain alcohol that isn’t derived from Blue Weber agave. Citing product testing that revealed alcohol from non-agave sources, lawsuits accuse these brands and others of misleading consumers about their products being “true tequila.”

“A product labeled ‘100% de Agave’ is one whose fermentation may not be enhanced with sugars other than those obtained from Blue Weber agave,” alleges the complaint filed against Costco, adding:

By falsely branding [its tequila] as “100 de Agave,” or “100% Blue Agave,” Costco misled consumers, distorted the premium tequila market, and profited from a deception that violates the core principles of consumer protection law.

A lawsuit filed against Diageo, the maker of Casamigos and Don Julio tequilas, similarly alleges:

A tequila labeled as 100% agave will be deemed to have been adulterated in the manufacturing stages of its production if it was not made exclusively from Blue Weber agave sugars.

Another tequila brand named in the 100% agave lawsuits is Teremana, which was founded by Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson. The complaint also accuses the company of advertising its tequila as “hand crafted” and “small batch” when it is produced in large, industrial facilities.

A lawsuit against a fifth tequila brand, Lunazil, was voluntarily dismissed in April. All of the other lawsuits noted above are pending.

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