Jose Cuervo: The oldest tequila distillery in the world (part 2)
The tequila Company Jose Cuervo has dominated over the centuries thanks to the innovative persons that boosted its growth during the 20th century. Let's look at its history.
The founders of the Gallardo family
Lázaro Gallardo, an entrepreneur from Jalisco, was the father of Luciano Gallardo (in the photo) who married Virginia González Rubio, Ana González Rubio's sister. The Gallardos owned the distillery that produced the "1800" and "Centenario" tequilas in La Laja town, while their sister-in-law Ana González Rubio owned Tequila Cuervo Destilliry located on the other side of Guadalajara in the Tequila Volcano Valley.
Arbol genealógico de la Familia Gallardo (2020) by Mundo CuervoFundación Beckmann A.C.
Cromo con Escena de la Revolución Mexicana by SadurníFundación Beckmann A.C.
Ana González Rubio and Guadalupe Gallardo and González Rubio
It should be emphasized that, after the death of José Cuervo Labastida in 1921, Ana González Rubio was in charge of the multiple businesses, leading them until 1940, the year in which she died.Ana González Rubio did not have children in either of her two marriages, so she invited her niece Guadalupe Gallardo (daughter of Luciano Gallardo and her sister Virginia) to go live with her in Tequila and help her with business.
Ana González Rubio ran the businesses until 1940, the year she died. Despite the obstacles of the post-revolution, she knew how to handle the circumstances successfully. For this reason, she is a model of business women in Mexico.
Doña Guadalupe Gallardo y González-Rubio by DesconocidoFundación Beckmann A.C.
Guadalupe Gallardo and González Rubio
The death of Ana González Rubio in 1940 caused Tequila Jose Cuervo and La Rojeña Distillery to pass into the hands of her niece Guadalupe Gallardo y González Rubio (1897–1964), who was the main heiress of her aunt Anna.
Guadalupe Gallardo and González Rubio
Guadalupe also inherited from her parents the estate of the "Centenario" and "1800" distillery. With the union of Jose Cuervo and 1800 Destillerys, the world's most important tequila company was formed.
The Beckmann family
Guadalupe Gallardo's sister named Virginia Gallardo was married to Juan Beckmann y Wilkens, consul of Germany in Guadalajara. He died prematurely, so Guadalupe, with the aim of helping her widowed sister, invites her, along with her children, to live with her in Tequila. Juan Beckmann Gallardo his nephew began working at the distillery to help his aunt Guadalupe from a very young age.
Guillermo Freytag Schreir
Guadalupe, without neglecting the business, put him under the management of his brother-in-law Guillermo Freytag Schreir (FNC-1957), who was married to his older sister, Leocadia Gallardo . He led the company Tequila Jose Cuervo S.A. y La Rojeña until 1957 and was able to take it forward at difficult times in the 1930s, until the market recovered during the Second World War (1939–45).
Guillermo Freytag Gallardo
Between 1957 and 1964, the year of his death, Guillermo Freytag Gallardo, son of Mr. Freytag Schreir, led the company giving it a great boost.
Juan Beckmann Gallardo
In 1941, Guadalupe Gallardo sent his nephew Juan Beckmann Gallardo to work in Tijuana, with the intention of promoting exports in the United States market, which he achieved with great success. It was there where the Margarita Cockteil was invented and promoted throughout the United States, which is why the company's exports grew for the first time in history to 5,000 cases of Tequila Cuervo per year.
Shortly before his trip, Juan Beckmann Gallardo married Carito Vidal Loustalot, his first-born Juan Beckmann Vidal, who currently presides over the destinies of Jose Cuervo and who grew up with his family in the still fledgling city of Tijuana. Upon the death of Guadalupe Gallardo in 1964, the company passed by direct inheritance into the hands of their nephew Juan Beckmann Gallardo, so he returned from Tijuana to live again in Jalisco to take over the bussines
Familia Beckmann Legorreta (2021) by Fundación Beckmann, A.C.Fundación Beckmann A.C.
Familia Beckmann Vidal - Legorreta
Current shareholders of Casa Cuervo
Juan Beckmann Vidal y Dora Maria Legorreta. by DesconocidoFundación Beckmann A.C.
Juan Beckmann Vidal
Juan Beckmann Vidal (1940 - to date) arrived in Tequila very young and recently married to Mrs. Doris Legorreta Santos, whom he had met when he was a student in Monterrey and with whom he had 3 children: Juan Domingo, Karen and Doris Beckmann Legorreta.
Juan Beckmann Vidal
He got to work in each of the areas of the factory and the agave fields to fully understand all the processes in the production of tequila. With this, he began the changes demanded by the growing production of the drink. It also gave the company a seal of distinction with the introduction in 1995 of the Reserva de la Familia brand, within the framework of the celebrations of the 200 years of the birth of La Rojeña. Multiple new types of high-end Tequila were added.
Juan Beckmann Gallardo, Juan Domingo Beckmann Legorreta y Juan Beckmann Vidal. by DesconocidoFundación Beckmann A.C.
Juan Domingo Beckmann Legorreta
In 1996 Juan Beckmann Vidal joined forces with his eldest son Juan Domingo Beckmann Legorreta (1967– to date). Since then, they have innovated the tequila industry, always at the forefront, improving each of their brands and expanding the horizons of the company. In the new millennium, they created a new line of tequilas, Maestro Tequilero thus marking a new chapter in family history. Juan Domingo Beckmann Legorreta has been running the company since 2013.
Currently Jose Cuervo is one of the outstanding companies in our country, it recently debuted on the Mexican Stock Exchange after more than 250 years of existence. The company directed by Juan Beckmann Vidal and his son Juan Domingo Beckmann Legorreta is currently the largest tequila producer in the world. Despite having received purchase offers, Jose Cuervo is still a 100 percent Mexican company.
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