Tequila Matchmaker Removes All Tequila Brands From Its Additive-Free List
Tequila lovers who want to know a little bit more about what’s in their bottles will now have to make do without one of the agave spirits industry’s most comprehensive resources. Earlier this month, the Consejo Regulador de Tequila (CRT) — the Mexican authority that regulates the tequila industry — threatened a number of tequila brands over the use of phrases like “additive free” on their labels and in their marketing materials. In response, the popular app Tequila Matchmaker scrubbed all “additive free” designations from its vast database of tequila brands and removed the list of certified additive-free tequila producers from the associated Additive Free Alliance website.
In a round of letters sent out to several small tequila brands on Sept. 30, the regulatory body outlined a series of punitive actions it could take against those producers — including seizure of product — for violating the CRT’s prohibition on the use of additive-free language. In marked escalation, the CRT’s language also suggested it could hold producers accountable for additive-free language associated with their brands even on third-party websites like Tequila Matchmaker.
“I started getting copies of these letters the CRT was sending to brands and distilleries, and they were quite distressed over this,” says Tequila Matchmaker and Additive Free Alliance co-founder Grover Sanschagrin. “So we had an emergency board meeting at the Additive Free Alliance and decided to take all of the tequila brands off of the list just to protect them from their own regulator.”
Tequila Matchmaker Removes All Tequila Brands From Its Additive-Free List
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