What Makes a Great Brand Ambassador? Manny Hinojosa of Tequila Cazadores

Manny Hinojosa is the Global Brand Ambassador for Tequila Cazadores, a popular and well-priced tequila made from Blue Weber agave from the highlands of Los Altos de Jalisco.

What attracted you to the industry?

From a young age, I’ve always had a passion for food and cooking as a result of my upbringing. My mom taught me how to cook and I started making meals for my whole family. As I got older this eventually transferred to an interest in making cocktails. My natural instinct for Mexican flavors and cuisine has helped with my cocktail creations, coupled with my love for agave spirits and interacting with people.

How and when did you get started as a brand ambassador?

I started working as a brand ambassador in 2007, after winning the Bar & Night Club show cocktail competition. By that time, I was already working as a bartender/ bar manager for 18 years and I had won multiple national and international cocktail competitions. I knew as a next step I was interested in representing a tequila brand because of my love for agave spirits and Mexican culture. When I heard that Tequila Cazadores was looking for a national brand ambassador, to me it was a no-brainer because it’s well-regarded in Mexico as an authentic quality tequila with a rich history. I knew Tequila Cazadores, I drank Tequila Cazadores in Mexico and I served Tequila Cazadores in my bars - it felt like a natural fit.

Why did you choose this brand to represent?

I always wanted to represent an iconic Mexican tequila brand, and it’s an added bonus that Tequila Cazadores was a brand that I drank while living in Mexico and served in my bars. Working for them also gives me a way to showcase my passion for Mexican culture, cuisine and mixology as I do a lot of cocktail creation and storytelling for the brand. We like to say that we are “real tequila for real people” and I can stand by that motto from personal experience.

Are you responsible for sales, education or PR? Or some combination?

It is a good combination of everything. I am responsible for education through presenting Tequila Cazadores’ history and production process. I represent the brand in trade shows, media events and I am always looking for business opportunities, while working closely with our commercial partners to continue growing the brand.

What trends do you see right now in the cocktail/spirits world?

I have seen so many different trends in my 33 years in the business, but right at this moment, I see agave spirits poised to become some of the most desirable and popular spirits in the world. Tequila as a category is trending and consumers are also more conscious of what type of products they’re buying. They’re looking for brands that support the local community, have an authentic story, and employ eco-friendly production practices.

We also saw the huge trend of canned cocktails that has exploded recently and released our own RTD line earlier this year. The canned cocktails (Paloma, Margarita, and Spicy Margarita) are made from 100% agave Tequila Cazadores Blanco and all three flavors are gluten-free and made with real ingredients and no artificial flavors. There are so many canned cocktails and RTDs out right now so we wanted to put out a product that not only tastes delicious but also uses quality natural ingredients as we know that transparency of ingredients is also important to consumers.

What’s something surprising about the brand that most people don’t know?

People are surprised when they learn that we have one of the oldest tequila brands in history -- our original recipe will be celebrating 100 years in 2022. We also popularized the reposado tequila category. Since 1922 we have been producing Tequila Cazadores Reposado. It was Don Jose Maria’s dream to create a beautiful and delicious tequila that was different from what people were drinking at the time. He created the original recipe using 100% Blue Weber Agave from the highlands of Jalisco, allowing the tequila to rest in brand new white oak barrels. He revolutionized the industry with his techniques and the final product was a delicious, well-balanced tequila with tropical notes of roasted pineapple, coconut, and hints of vanilla. Tequila Cazadores became famous all over Mexico for his unique reposado recipe.

We also have one of the greenest and most environmentally friendly distilleries in the tequila industry. We have a seven-step fully sustainable and zero waste production process that is 100% biomass fueled. About 60% of the biofuel used to produce the tequila comes from spent agave fibers. The other 40% is made up of carbon-neutral, renewable fuel sources such as clean waste wood, biomass briquettes, sawdust, coconut shell, and tree cuttings.

What are the qualifications for being a great brand ambassador?

My best advice is to believe in the brand that you represent and be able to communicate that to your audiences. For example, I was attracted to working for Tequila Cazadores because I was familiar with it in Mexico and knew that it was a tequila that real Mexicans actually drink, not just something that’s produced in Mexico and marketed to a US or international market. I can speak passionately about it because I was a consumer of Tequila Cazadores before I was a brand ambassador.

You also have to have a love for traveling and an ability to engage with people. The most important qualification is to be humble.

What are the biggest misconceptions people have about brand ambassadors?

Overall, most people don’t realize how down to earth, professional and knowledgeable brand ambassadors are. Our number one goal is to spread awareness around the brands that we work with, and I absolutely love teaching people about the intricacies of Tequila Cazadores and what differentiates it from other tequilas on the market. We eat, sleep and breathe the brands that we work with, and in turn it really makes us experts in the field, which many people may not realize.

What do you like best about being a brand ambassador?

I love to travel around the world representing tequila, the national spirit of my country. It brings me immense pride to be able to share my passion for Mexican culture with others around the globe by introducing them to a product that has been perfected over generations by hardworking people from the Arandas community in Jalisco.

What’s one of your favorite cocktail recipes?

(insert Latini cocktail photo)

The Latini cocktail, a cocktail recipe that I created for a bartender competition in San Francisco in 2006. I won first place with this recipe!