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Tuesday September 26 8:09 AM ET Hard Times in Margaritaville?

http://dailynews.yahoo.com/htx/nm/20000926/od/tequila_dc_1.html

GUADALAJARA, Mexico (Reuters) - Up to 40 percent of the firms making Mexico's fiery tequila may halt production because of a chronic shortage of their main raw ingredient, the cactus-like agave plant, a Mexican official said on Monday.

``We all know the reasons, there is no agave left,'' said Alberto Cardenas, governor of the western state of Jalisco, the heartland of Mexico's tequila industry.

The growth in world consumption of tequila ``is threatening tequila production in the next few years,'' Cardenas told Reuters. ``People are saying 30-40 percent of the firms may close down.''

Agave, a blue cactus-like plant, has soared in value in recent months as world tequila demand rocketed past supply.

Once a low-class spirit, Tequila has now become more expensive in Mexico than mid-range whiskeys, and tequila makers have hired extra guards to patrol their fields against thieves.

Supply is unlikely to recover quickly as the agave plant needs up to 10 years to mature.

Ramon Gonzalez, head of the Tequila regulatory council, which guards the trademark, estimated that in the past four months, around a third of established tequila makers had stopped production, reported Reforma newspaper.

Gonzalez could not be contacted to confirm the report.

-- K (infosurf@yahoo.com), September 26, 2000

Answers

Nuts! My favorite drink. Guess I'll have to shift to Martinis.

-- Uncle Fred (dogboy45@bigfoot.com), September 26, 2000.

It's a sad day when you can't even drown your sorrows.

-- K (infosurf@yahoo.com), September 26, 2000.