One Tequila, two tequila, three tequila.....MORE!

We spent last week with the supervisors of the Autoservicio channel.  These weeks always seem a little slower because we are really just shadowing them, learning what their daily activities are.  Sometimes I am just sitting around while they complete paper work but we do spend a good amount of time on the market and I have been learning a lot.

I was with two supervisors pretty much all week; Miguel and Armando (AKA Crusty, like from the Simpsons but pronounced with a thick Mexican accent).  Miguel's wife was due any day for his 4th child so Armando was taking over for him when he left on Wednesday.  Miguel has responsibility for 27 supermarkets and about 40 or so people.  Their job entails pretty much the same thing as our ASM/TSM: Check the market for POGs, out of codes, rotation, out of stocks, opportunities, and review orders, all this on top of making sure programs are executed.  Usually, they spend 5 days on the market and 1 day in the office per week.  

 Monday and Tuesday were spent on the market checking stores, doing the supervisor thing.  The way they look at their business is a little different from the way we do in the USA.  Each week they are given a goal they must meet.  This goal is given to them by the sales analysts and is based on sales.  It is based on 100%, you obviously want to hit your goal 100% or better (duh Ramon).  Returns are used to identify opportunities.  The top for returns in this channel is 5%.  If the returns are too high, they cut back on orders, too low, they increase orders.  We look at our business compared against the same period last year; are we up or down?  The lack of competition allows them to operate in ways we definitely can't. 

 On Tuesday, we were about to go into a store and Miguel saw a street vendor selling some sort of drink called Tejino.  It is a kind of thick, brown colored drink made from fermented corn mixed with salt, lime, and then they put some Italian ice type ice cream in it.  I gave it a try and thought it was awful.  They love it though.....

Thursday was Mothers Day in Mexico (Happy Belated Mothers Day to all the moms out there) so in the afternoon they had a party for the vendadoras and promotoras that were also mothers.  It was a very nice party.  All the moms sat around the outside of the room, there was food and music, and all the men were serving the moms.  I was out in the market when it started so I showed up about 45 minutes after it started.  Right when I walked in, Jose started to egg me on about dancing.  I quickly obliged.  You really don't have to ask me twice to dance for beautiful ladies.  I hopped in the middle of the room and started to "tare up a rug".  All the moms seemed to love it.  They all had their phones out recording it.  I am probably a star all over Mexican Facebook.  Of course I wasn't going to be the only one to dance so I had the ladies chant for the rest of my comrades to do a little dance as well.  Jose was quick to jump in but Chico and Joe took a little more convincing.  They eventually did a little jig, very reluctantly.  It was a lot of fun.

For our one day off we wanted to have a little fun and experience some Mexican culture so we went and toured the Jose Cuervo Tequila Factory.  First off, I love tequila.  It is Mexico's national drink so obviously we have drank our fare share of it down here.  We took an hour bus ride to "Tequila City" where all the magic happens.  It was extremely cool to see how tequila is made from start to finish.  It starts off in the agave fields where all the plants are hand planted and harvested.  Then, they take the plants inside to be cooked and grind-up.  Next, all the juice and sugar is extracted to be fermented and distilled.  At one point along the process, the tequila is at 55% alcohol, which is over 100 proof.  They don't sell this in stores but we were able to sample some.  Right when you take the shot, it warms up your insides.  It is extremely smooth too.  Very good stuff.  Once the tequila is distilled, they put it in charred barrels.  Depending on what kind of tequila you are going for determines the length of time it stays in the barrel.  Tequila Blanca (clear) is suppose to never be in the barrel.  However, Jose Cuervo Blanca is put in a barrel for a short amount of time which is why they call theirs Tequila Silver.  Next length of time (I can't remember all the exact lengths) is called Reposado.  This is my favorite kind, Jose Cuervo Traditional to be exact.  A little bit longer in the barrel and it becomes Anejo, and finally, the longest, Extra Anejo.  I wish I could remember all the little details and history about the tour but I would have had to be taking notes, which I clearly was not.  If you ever get a chance, and like tequila, I would recommend taking a plant tour.  It definitely gave me a new perspective on the drink I enjoy *takes a shot of tequila*.           

Jose Cuervo!!  Count it!!

Cuervo is Spanish for crow.  Who knew??

Ya boy with the giant Cuervo!!

Agave fields.  Before the tour of the plant we stopped in the field to see where the agave get harvested.  It takes 5-11 years for a plant to mature enough to be harvested for tequila.  I guess it is true what they say, patients is a virtue.

One of the workers out in the fields.  These guys work 6 hours a day; planting baby agave and harvesting mature agave for tequila.  My hero's!

 He showed us the process of planting and harvesting.

They put me to work cutting the pencas off the agave.  I was a natural. 

 Female agave plants.  They use both the male and female plants to make tequila.

 Old school way to cool the agave.  Those are volcanic rocks so they hold the heat of the sun very well to cook the agave.

Old school way to grind up the agave after it's cooked.  That big rock would be pulled by a donkey or horse.  

Old school distillers.

  Old school Jose Cuervo rides.

New school way to cook the agave.  I wanted to take pictures of the entire process but they told us that there way too much alcohol in the air and it could start a fire.  Personally I think that is a BS excuse they use.  Just like in our plants, they don't allow pictures because it is "top secret".

 The heart of the Agave plant that is used to make tequila.  Each plant can produce 5-7 liters of booze.

 HEAVEN!!!

 Pepe (which is a nick name for Jose) the Cuervo.  This bird is an absolute diva.  He literally slides over on his stoop and poses for you to take a picture. 

This bird is such a G!!

 Which bottle to choose???

Corrin and I with some very large bottles of Tequila!! 

Guadalajara - Autoservicio

When I last left you, we were getting ready to go to Guadalajara and learn the Autoservicio channel.  Guadalajara is about 300 miles Northwest of D.F.  We spent Monday traveling and getting settled in our new home, the Crown Plaza, which is your typical hotel.  Guadalajara is definitely a change of scenery.  It doesn't have the quaint, old school, neighborhood feeling that D.F. had (at least where we were staying in Roma Sur).  Where we are at now has more of a city feel; tall buildings, lots of hotels, no real residential places.  Also, it is hot as sin over here!!  Everyday has been close to 100 degrees!!  It is a good thing that I have been in stores all day.        

I need to retract a previous statement: I was under the impression that since it was Labor day in Mexico last Tuesday, that we had off.  This was not the case at all.  While most people in Mexico did have off on Tuesday, the Autoservicio Channel did not, and that just so happened to be the channel we were in.  I know right, lucky us.

The Autoservicio channel is more of what I am used to.  They are your typical Supermarkets that you can find in the states.  However, the process to service the stores are completely different.  In the states, we have one vendor that delivers the product, checks it in, merchandises it, and moves onto his next store.  In Mexico, all the jobs are specialized.  (Cliff note version of the process) There is a driver (chofer), that delivers the product, the vendor, who checks the product in and does the orders, and the promotor (merchandiser), who puts the product up.  Also, instead of the vendor going to a bunch of stores, they spend the entire day in just one store or possible have one other store.

I spent my week in a Wal-Mart, which was perfectly fitting since I spend a lot of time in Wal-Mart in the US.  The Wal-Mart that I was in does the most sales in Guadalajara.  It isn't a huge store, but it has a lot of foot traffic.  Plus, when you have close to 0 competition, it makes it pretty easy to sell product.  Bimbo seriously runs this store.  The bread/cake isle is 36 feet long and we have all but two feet of it.  Not to mention almost all of the 8 foot tortilla section, space in the cookie section, breakfast section, and candy and gum section, space at the front registers, strips that hang from the shelves with product on them, 21 wire rack displays that are set up all over the store, 2 pallet drops of cookies, and a partridge in a pear tree.  All this while the store is going through a re-model.  It is pretty incredible.  Even with all that space, the return percentage is only (if you work for BBU, you might want to sit down) less that 2%!!!  When the Supervisor told me that I almost fainted.

Since this store does so much volume and has so many displays, there are two promotores in the store all day.  They were both pretty young too; Marco, 19 and Anna, 20.  These guys are good though.  Our shelves and displays are full every moment of everyday.  Of course with three people in the store all day, our service is impeccable and unmatched.  Pretty much every major DSD company has vendors or merchandisers there all day.  It is quite the change up from the US where the vendor goes to a store and tries to get it done as quickly as possible because he has 7 other stores to go to.  Also, competition (and monopoly laws) has a major impact on what we are able to do in the states as apposed to Mexico.  Either way, I was pretty impressed with the whole thing.       

A 4 pallet display of Principe cookies right near the front of the store.  We were putting up more than 20 boxes that contain 14 little boxes of cookies a day.

The street vendor place we went for lunch on Tuesday.  Those are trays full of pigs hearts, stomachs, kidneys, tongues, and god knows what else.  Pretty appetizing huh??  I ordered a taco with just regular meat in it but they chop everything up in the same bowl.  I have eaten more things that I have been skeptical of down here than I have in my previous 26 years of life before this.  YOLO I guess.....  
One last thing BTW.  If you were going to see the movie "Apartment 143", do yourself a favor and save your money.  You're welcome....