Diageo pledges £4.6m on water-saving project

Casamigos owner Diageo will invest £4.6 million (US$5.8m) in water preservation schemes in Mexico as part of a wider sustainability goal.

Diageo, which also produces Tequila brands Don Julio and DeLeón, will use the investment to fund six projects in 2024. The schemes will benefit three towns in Jalisco by improving water quality and increasing access to water.

Diageo completed the first project from this funding in August 2023 by building two artificial wetlands and a 10,000 tree municipal nursery in the town of San Diego de Alejandría.

The artificial wetlands are predicted to clean 268m litres of wastewater and to improve the quality of irrigation in the area for local farmers to grow more crops.

Diageo is also financing joint action to preserve priority water basins, including one in the Lerma River.

Alan Loredo, Diageo’s corporate relations director for Mexico and Tequila, said: “As leaders in Tequila and in the spirits industry, we have an environmental and social responsibility that we bring to life in each of the actions we take to protect the resources upon which life depends and to promote the prosperity of the communities in which we operate.

“The 100 million pesos investment will focus on projects oriented towards preservation and access to water across the next two years, a crucial step towards achieving our sustainability objectives and contributing to mitigate climate change.”

The investment in Mexico is part of the company’s target to replenish more than 100% of the water used in its operations in water-stressed areas by the end of 2025.

The goal was included in Diageo’s 10-year action plan, Society 2030: Spirit of Progress.

In October, Diageo revealed a Tequila regenerative agriculture programme, which will investigate how agave holds carbon over a six- to seven-year growth cycle.