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Has anyone opened a Brewery in Mexico? If so what kind of obstacles did you encounter and what do you wish you knew before hand? Thanks so much!
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No personal experience myself, but I know there's a great article floating around somewhere about the challenges a guy faced opening one up in Baja I think? Future father in law was at one over in the Playa del Carmen area too, I'll see what he can find out from them over there.Originally posted by ProjectMID View Post -
I'm in the process now of opening in Mexico.
It's not as simple as filling out forms and following the rules as there really aren't any laws for microbrewery's. The city originally thought I was opening a A-B Inbev size brewery in the middle of the city, not knowing what a brewpub is. Every state is different concerning the "law". You have to know people in the government, and you will pay "mordidas" (bribes) to get things done. If you do try it, GET A MEXICAN PARTNER! I've sat in countless meetings where I, as the "gringo", have been ignored and they only spoke to my partner since he is Mexican (and, I am the CEO and have been brewing for 25+ years).
Then there are the taxes...they are incredibly high. You Pay IEPS, VAT and taxes on all goods that are imported; everything is imported. There is no balance either...the big guys in brewing pay considerably less in taxes and the government has discarded the small brewers attempts to lower their tax burden.
Your handle is "ProjectMID"; are you opening in Merida? That's where I am, if so. Send me a PM and I can share what I've learned over the past two years of paperwork. I quickly found "I'm not in Kansas anymore"!Comment
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We are located in central Mexico and have been functioning as a brewery for at least year and a half, and we are about to open our taproom in the same site.
Is not that difficult as in the US, it is pretty fast forward if you know the law and you don't need any bribes in most of the cities.
Depending on the state the alcohol license will be a local or state issue, the easiest ones are the states that doesn't have a alcohol state law.
As for the taxes, they are high, 46.5% per beer.
Actually, there are at least 2 breweries of 15 bbl in Merida and another couple of them of the same size in Cancun. Around 60 in the country of that size or bigger.
And 400-600 breweries, from nano to regional ones..
If you got everything ready, you can open in a couple of months without delay, you just need to submit to the Cofepris the "Aviso de Funcionamiento" and your local or state License, in the license they will ask for everything regarding the brewery (Evacuation Plans, Boiler Maintenance Schedule, Etc), and finally all the issues regarding the mexican IRS.
As Kevin told you it will be easier if you got a Mexican partner that knows how to deal with all that stuff...
If you got any doubt just sent me a PM.Comment
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something you should also be aware of is the cultural differences between business-to-business operations. while being mexican-american and speaking the language and having family down there and all of that was a help, its still not the same as actually BEING mexican and understanding how things are done down there.
we didnt have to pay any bribes. but we're also a small nano at 5bbl, and we opened a restaurant/brewpub so nobody seemed to care what we're up to with the beer. your mileage may vary. bribes arent always necessary, but it varies by location.
mexico has legal system based on napoleonic code, as opposed to our british based law system. be aware.
safety standards and work standards are not the same as ours. dont be surprised. and acquaint yourself with the feast of San Lunes.
in an economic sense, you are leaving a high$-labor society and entering a low$ labor society. what does that mean? labor is so cheap it often doesnt make sense to spend money on capital equipment, i.e. dont waste $$$ on a fancy keg washer when you can pay a guy 5 bucks A DAY to wash all your kegs by hand. ditto for bottling. and kegging. and cleaning. etc.
mexico has no beer equipment industry to speak of. you can probly find a homebrew shop in a big enough town, but stainless cellar tanks, brewhouse, sanitary pumps, hoses, fittings, etc. etc. is all gonna have to be imported. you pay a 16% import tax on the equipment, fees to the customs broker, and then the shipping. gets real expensive. if it wont fit in your car, you're gonna have to declare it/ship it. buying used equipment inside mexico can be a cheaper option, but could be hard to find what you want. everybody is opening up nanos.
you need a special permit if you are going to import bulk grain. US/canadian malt is no problem, as its NAFTA, but UK/german/euro/etc. is taxed extra. fedex can get expensive if you're far from big city/airport. having friends bring stuff down when they fly is always an option- yeast, salts, nutrients, etc.
expecting it to be a profit making enterprise? the peso has absolutely taken a dump in past year or two. its currently at 21 to dollar. it was 12.5ish about two years ago. thats a huge haircut on your investment dollar. it might stabilize, it might strengthen, or trump may actually build his wall and tax remittances from the US and the peso could fall even more. in addition to business risk, you now have currency risk.
and the IRS expects to get a report on your GLOBAL income, include it in your 1040.
while having a mexican partner is great, what you also need is a contact in the local brewing community. no sense reinventing the wheel, ask guys how its done in your local area and save yourself some time/money/stress.Comment
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I was in cabo a couple weeks ago and they have a brewery, cabo brewing co. The manager told me the guys that own it came from Colorado . Maybe they can help.Comment
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What Kevin N. and Memo said pretty much sums everything you need to know initially to open a brewery here in Mexico.Originally posted by ProjectMID View Post
We can also help you with any advise you might need regarding installation and plannification of your brewery.
We are brewing equipment manufacturers and suppliers located very close to Mexico City.
This is my email in case you need anything:
hzapfeg@braucraftsystems.comComment
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