Patrón’s latest ad campaign challenges what consumers know about tequila

Patrón says all the tequila it has ever made since 1989 has been free of additives. The brand is now ready to get loud and talk about it.

This week, Patrón is debuting a new additive-free marketing campaign that will run across digital, print, and out-of-home advertising in key markets including New York City and Los Angeles. The additive-free copy features lines like “Our secret ingredient is that we have no secret ingredients” and “When tequila is this good, additives don’t add anything.”

Since Patrón’s inception, the brand says it has only made tequila with three ingredients: 100% weber blue agave, water, and yeast. The few exceptions are for the brand’s liqueurs, including orange and coffee flavored expressions, which always include added flavoring. But even the base spirit used to make those liqueurs only feature the three core ingredients.

“Consumers are not going up to bartenders and asking for a tequila and soda and expecting to get a splash of caramel coloring or a sprinkle of glycerin,” says Ned Duggan, chief marketing officer at Patrón, in an interview with Fast Company. “We think that they want to know what’s in their tequila.”

Patrón’s additive-free campaign may reignite a debate that’s been swirling in the tequila industry about the use and marketing of additives. Additives are permitted if less than 1% of the weight of the tequila, without any requirement of disclosure, according to the standards set by the Tequila Regulatory Council, or CRT, a group that’s backed by tequila brands, agave producers, and distributors to monitor and certify all tequila.

Common additives that are in tequila include sugars and sweeteners like fructose and aspartame, oak extract, and caramel coloring. Patrón estimates that as much as 80% of tequila brands on the shelf today use additives.

Agave typically needs six to eight years before it is ready to harvest, but with a supply shortage and higher prices, brands have started to pull agave from the earth after just two to three years. That results in a bitter flavor, and some producers have begun to lean more heavily on additives to combat that bitterness. For aged tequilas like añejo and reposado, caramel is used to improve the consistency of the color and make it appear “older,” as if it had been aged in oak barrels for a longer period of time.

Patrón says 61% of consumers prefer additive-free liquors, citing a global survey conducted by the brand’s parent company Bacardi. Retailers have taken notice too, carving out shelf space that only promotes additive-free tequilas. Some mixologists prioritize crafting additive-free tequila libations.

“We recognize that people are caring more and more about what they’re putting into their bodies, and also the ingredients that are in the brands that they’re putting in their bodies,” says Duggan.

Among the loudest proponents of additive-free clarity is Grover Sanschagrin, who along with his wife Scarlet, cofounded an app called Tequila Matchmaker. The couple had developed a program that would certify tequila brands as additive-free and then share that information with consumers who were curious to know what was in the liquor they were drinking. 

But last year, the Sanschagrin’s home was raided in Mexico, part of a pressure campaign he says was spurred by the CRT’s anger about Tequila Matchmaker’s push for transparency. The Tequila Matchmaker app still exists for tequila reviews, but provides no information about additives. The Sanschagrins also created a new U.S.-based nonprofit called the Additive Free Alliance, which is angling to set up an independent process to identify and list additive-free brands, but thus far includes no tequila producers, only one agave-based vodka and a couple of mezcal brands.

“There’s a void now,” says Sanschagrin. “Every brand is basically saying they are additive-free and now there is no way to offer proof of that.”

In 2023, Patrón announced an additive-free seal, a label that was designed to appear on the brand’s bottles, a bid for transparency that was blessed by the CRT at the time. But that on-packaging messaging never came to fruition. 

“I think we were a little bit ahead of the rest of the industry and the CRT ultimately requested that we not move forward,” says Duggan. “But that’s why it’s been so important for us to launch this campaign where regardless of whether it’s on our bottle or not, we are being forthcoming with consumers and transparent about our no additive message.”

A memo circulated by the CRT last year, obtained by Fast Company, told tequila producers that because additives are permitted under the 1% level, they believe there is no such thing as an additive-free tequila. The CRT ordered distillers to stop marketing tequila as additive-free, saying it was a “false and misleading statement” that could harm the spirit’s reputation with consumers. The CRT didn’t respond to requests for comment.

Sanschagrin welcomes the message that Patrón is sending with the new marketing campaign, both to consumers and tequila’s regulatory body. “The CRT overreached and somebody needs to check them,” he says. “I’m excited that Patrón has decided to take this on.”

The additive-free movement also reflects an evolution of how tequila is produced. When tequila sales first began to boom in the U.S. in the 1980s, most were gold tequila, or mixto, a tequila made from a minimum of 51% agave and the rest from other sugars. Patrón’s launch, and other tequilas that have since entered the market, popularized the use of 100% agave and that claim became the baseline that consumers look for when buying any tequila north of $20.

But the 100% agave claim became more difficult to stick to as tequila demand has soared. Tequila and mezcal sales now total $6.7 billion in annual revenue in the U.S. market, the second-most popular liquor category following vodka, according to the trade group the Distilled Spirits Council.

Dave Karraker, president of PR consultancy Raptor Communications, says the 100% additive-free claim is a way that brands like Patrón can distinguish themselves from the crowd.

“How do I differentiate myself from all of these players that are adding additives,” he asks. “As a marketer, you’re looking for points of differentiation to lean into, that are on trend with consumers.”

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