Tokyo, Japan.-The Tequila Regulatory Council (CRT) is participating in FOODEX 2026, Asia’s largest international food and beverage exhibition, held from March 10 to 13 in Tokyo, Japan.
Mexico’s tequila industry is featured within the Mexico Pavilion, where representatives are presenting information about the history, production process and regulatory framework of tequila, the country’s first recognized Denomination of Origin. The participation aims to reinforce the spirit’s positioning in international markets, particularly across Asia.
During the pavilion’s opening ceremony, CRT President Aurelio López Rocha highlighted the importance of promoting Mexican products with protected origin status on global trade platforms.
“We consider it very important for our tequila agro-industry to maintain an international presence; tequila is Mexico’s first Denomination of Origin,” he said.
According to CRT statistics, Japan ranked as the eighth-largest tequila importer worldwide in 2025, purchasing nearly 4 million liters. During the same period, China imported 2.8 million liters, while South Korea imported 433,000 liters, representing a 14.49 percent increase compared with 2024.
Tequila currently holds several forms of intellectual property protection in Asian markets, including denomination of origin, geographical indication and certification mark status in countries such as China, Singapore, Thailand, the Philippines, Indonesia, Malaysia and Vietnam.
The Mexico Pavilion at FOODEX is organized by the agricultural attaché office of Mexico’s Secretariat of Agriculture and Rural Development for the Asia-Pacific region in collaboration with the National Agricultural Council, with the aim of promoting Mexican agri-food products in Asian markets.
