A homecoming for Montejo, León beers

Grupo Modelo is returning two famous beer brands to their rightful home. Photo: YouTube
Grupo Modelo is returning two famous beer brands to their rightful home. Photo: YouTube

Officials gathered last night to celebrate the fact that two historically Yucatecan beers will be made in Yucatán once again.

Plans for a Grupo Modelo complex spanning ​​295 hectares in rural Hunucma was announced in January.

Businessmen, officials and Yucatecan artists, led by Gov. Rolando Zapata Bello, were in Mérida last night to celebrate the deal with a traditional Yucatecan banquet, a prelude to the official ceremony today in Los Pinos.

Cervecería Yucateca, creator of the Montejo and León trademarks, was acquired by beer giant Grupo Modelo in 1979 and closed in 2002 to move operations to Tuxtepec, Oaxaca.

The new plant is on track to create 400 jobs once it becomes operational next year.

León will be a truly Yucatecan beer once again.
León will be a truly Yucatecan beer once again.

Founded in the 19th century, the Mérida brewery was an important part of the state’s economy and social fabric and losing it was a blow both economically and emotionally.

According to Grupo Modelo, Yucatán represents 10 percent of Mexico’s consumer market, justifying the investment. The plant will bring a 10% increase in the value of Grupo Model’s assets. Moreover, the state government will benefit from tax revenue from the acquisition of land for the complex, located less than 15 kilometers from the state capital.

Introduced in the 1960s to celebrate the brewery’s anniversary and named for the state’s first governor, Montejo is a clear Pilsner-style beer and a “nice change of pace,” according to a review of Mexico’s beers on Transitions Abroad. León is “a beer that looks darker and maltier than it really is. It is like a wimpier version of Negra Modelo, but is widely available in large returnable bottles and is often one of the cheapest six-packs of cans in a supermarket,” the report states.

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