The Foreign Service Journal, January-February 2019

44 JANUARY-FEBRUARY 2019 | THE FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL Beer Diplomacy: Craft Brewing and U.S. Agricultural Export Promotion Baja California, Mexico, 2018 By Preeti Shah Consulate General Tijuana applied an array of business promotion and public diplomacy tools to the growing craft beer industry in Baja California over four months last year to further three U.S. Mission Mexico goals: expansion of U.S. exports and business; development of local entrepreneurship, small businesses and the workforce; and promotion of gender equality. Working with our interagency partners from the Foreign Agricultural Service and the Foreign Commercial Service, we developed a multipronged program that pulled together experts and participants from each stage of beer brewing, includ- ing marketing and export, to promote U.S. economic growth while simultaneously supporting young, mostly female entrepreneurs in Mexico. Mexico’s craft brewing industry is rapidly expanding, and Baja California has the highest concentration of craft breweries in the country. U.S.-grown barley and hops and U.S.-manufactured brewing equipment are key to their success. Through sustained engagement with the brewing industry, we solidified the U.S. role as a key economic driver in the binational border region, and ensured U.S.-grown agricultural exports would be the preferred base ingredients to brewing craft beer in Mexico. We also tapped into the Cicerone certification program, a U.S. business-sponsored initiative that educates and certifies beer serv- ers, brewers and critics, much like the process a sommelier goes through to become a certified wine expert. Cicerone representatives were eager to gain a foothold in theMexicanmarket, and we con- nected themwith representatives of the brewers’ guild, Tijuana and Ensenada restaurant associations, universities and large breweries. As a result, Cicerone developed more than 10 new potential contracts in Baja California and a host of new contacts with whom to explore further business relationships. In addition, numerous Southern California and Baja California breweries have partnered to brew and distribute beer on both sides of the border, increasing their visibility and economic success in both consumer markets. Women are underrepresented in theMexican craft brewing industry. As part of the consulate’s support to the Ensenada Beer Congress, we brought together female representatives from the agri- culture, marketing, brewing, industry advocacy and certification parts of the industry. In one of the best-attended ses- sions of a three-day conference in Ensenada in March 2018, we hosted a panel, “Women in Brewing,” in which five women from both countries dis- cussed inclusion, diversity and gender equality in the field of craft beer. Con- necting female brewers from Southern California with Baja California female brewers facilitated business and men- toring relationships. One immediate result was that Baja California women established the first Mexican chapter of the Pink Boots Society, a beer industry nonprofit designed to build mentorship opportuni- ties for women in brewing. This cross-border group also went a few steps further and brewed unique beers for the Ensenada BeerFest, using the profits from their sales to endow scholarships for young female brewers to get their brewing science certificates at Baja California uni- versities. The group’s binational board also established itself as a nonprofit in Mexico and plans to continue brewing together with the goal of supporting young female brewers. Craft brewing was an ideal vehicle—especially in the border region that embraces U.S. trends and interests before the rest of Mexico—to showcase the benefits of export and business promo- tion, as well as to highlight U.S. commitment to entrepreneurship, gender equality and workforce development. (And we got to sample some terrific products along the way.) Preeti Shah joined the Foreign Service in 2004 and has served in Mexico, Afghanistan, Turkey, Nicaragua and several tours in Washington, D.C. She is a public diplo- macy-coned officer and is headed next to Indonesia. Founding members of the U.S.-Mexico women’s brewing nonprofit “Dos Californias Brewsters” at the Ensenada BeerFest last March. U.S.CONSULATETIJUANA/JOSEMARIANORIEGA