In this episode of The SAF Podcast, host Oscar Henderson sits down with Hamid, Francis and Sergio from Nexen Biosystems to explore one of the most unconventional and interesting sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) feedstocks emerging today: tequila bagasse.

With what seems like every celebrity wanting to start a tequila brand. The market over recent years has boomed, creating an abundant amount of year round feedstock.  Tequila production is tightly concentrated by denomination rules, so residues are steady, local, and available at favorable terms because they’re a disposal headache for distillers. Agave bagasse is pre-cooked and pressed during tequila making, which can reduce pre-treatment intensity compared to raw crop waste.

We dig into Nexen's strategy: 18 months of R&D at a Canadian lab to tune pre-treatment and conversion steps, followed by a Mexico-based pilot to validate logistics, contracts, and costs at scale. Along the way we talk policy reality—strong Canadian support for clean-tech research, Mexico’s push to manage tequila waste and align with global SAF goals.

We also discuss the challenge of raising capital in the R&D stage before building a demonstration and pilot plants. Finding investors that are comfortable with the risk profile all aspects of developing a SAF facility is crucial for Nexen as investors bring much more to the table than just capital. 

Sit back, grab a tequila (think of the feedstock) and listen to this episode and find out about the potential of tequila bagasse as a feedstock and how Nexen are planning on utilizing it for SAF production.