Trump’s historically xenophobic attitudes toward Mexico are already having a negative effect—and not on Mexicans, although that will undoubtedly come. One New York-based mega-corporation is seeing its stock fall thanks to the election of the Republican candidate, who says he will be building a “beautiful” wall between Mexico and the US.
According to analysis by the Washington Post, Trump could end up deporting anywhere between 5 million and 6.5 million undocumented immigrants if he follows through on his word. Ignoring the obvious humanitarian crisis that would result from such an action—and the fact that it would undermine all that America stands for—homegrown American companies like Constellation Brands may well be sharing the immigrants’ pain from an economic standpoint.
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Obviously, it’s not only Mexicans and Latinos who drink Corona, or that every Mexican and Latino drinks it. But the very real threat of mass deportations will inevitably strain US-Mexico relations, both diplomatically and economically. Add rising xenophobia into the mix, and you have a pretty shitty climate for Mexican brewers to overcome.
Constellation Brands is the owner of Mexican brewer Corona beer—and on Wednesday, the company saw its stock take a dive of 8 percent, a drop some have attributed to an uncertain future with Mexico and the possible deportation of some of Corona’s American customer base.
At a meeting of institutional investors this week, Rob Sands, CEO of Constellation, said this: “I don’t expect [the election] to affect our business in the short term and as these policies develop, we will respond accordingly and engage with government accordingly.” He added, “As Trump develops his plans, we will continue to engage with them.”
The portfolio of beers owned by Constellation includes Corona Extra, Modelo Especial, and Pacifico. The American company acquired these brands from Grupo Modelo a few years ago, and the beers have helped Constellation’s sales and stock performance of late. At least until this week, that is. Trump’s pugnacious attitude toward Mexico and its natives has led to extreme uncertainty about Constellation’s ties there.
When MUNCHIES asked Constellation Brands to comment on the sudden drop in their stock following Trump’s election, Michael McGrew, the VP of communications for Constellation, provided us with the following statement: “Overall, we believe that Republican control of the White House and Congress will be good for business and a positive for Constellation Brands as it relates to taxation and other economic matters. While it’s way too early to know what policies will be put forth by the next administration and which policies will be enacted by Congress, what I can say is that Constellation Brands has a long history of working effectively with representatives from all levels of government and from both political parties, and we fully expect that to continue. Consumer demand for our beer brands remains strong, which positively impacts our economy and job creation in the US, and we fully expect to continue building on the momentum we’ve gained in the marketplace over the years. We’ve never been more optimistic about the future of our business.”
This is by no means the first time that xenophobia and strained relations between America and Mexico have imperiled Corona as both a brand and company. Corona was first imported to the US in the late 70s, and less than a decade later, it was already ranked second among America’s imported beers, just behind Heineken. That all came to a halt when a rumor began spreading in the 80s that Mexican workers had been urinating into the beers. As Corona eventually discovered after two Nevada grocers pulled the beer from their shelves in 1987, at least one Heineken distributor had been actively spreading the xenophobic rumor in the hopes of deterring potential customers.
Welcome to the Trump years, Corona! President Obama deported 2.5 million people from America under his administration’s immigration policy, so we can only imagine how many marginalized people Trump will succeed in flippantly tossing aside like last week’s trash. And even if you believe that immigrants are the bane of this country, you have to recognize we are about to cause irrevocable damage to the beer industry.
After all, even repugnant hatemongers need beer, too.
