'Living green gold': the henequen business in Yucatán

The henequen business drove Yucatán in past centuries. Today the sector seeks to revive the industry and bets on tourism.

Mérida’s economy shone in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Just take a walk along the Paseo de Montejo, with its majestic stately homes, to see the opulence of those times.

In the mid-19th century, the henequen business increased investment in Mérida and grew the Yucatecan economy.

What is henequen?

Henequen comes from the agave family of plants and looks much like the top of a pineapple, except the leaves are longer. It grows wild across northern Yucatán and is a rather remarkable plant. It thrives in the region’s rocky limestone soil, practically without water or fertiliser. Its virtue is the yield and strength of its fibres, which can be used to make rope.

In ancient times, the Maya peeled off the outer layer of the leaf and crushed the pulpy inside to reach the fibre.

Due to high demand and the rise of the Yucatecan economy in the late 19th century, a mechanical means of extracting the fibre was developed — a machine that removed the skin, water and pulp of the leaves in a single process, saving time and labour.

Around then the industry took off and the owners of the henequen ranches grew their fortunes. Investment in Mérida took the form of lavish French-style mansions. In the early 20th century, the city had the distinction of housing more millionaires per capita than anywhere else in Mexico or the world.

Halt, collapse and revival

In the 20th century, the opulent years of the henequen business and investment in Mérida began to stall. After the agrarian reform, productivity fell and the export price of henequen fibre rose 400%. Americans were not willing to pay it and quickly found an alternative source of fibre in Brazil.

The industry went into sharp decline, and by 1950 the countryside was full of abandoned henequen haciendas.

Today, due to the high cost of oil, there is great interest in these natural fibres. The industry is being reborn and has become attractive to textile designers and to tourism seeking to reconnect with that lost history. This sector of the Yucatecan economy is also of interest to China, with projects to export the fibre to Asia.

Henequen: a business in Mérida?

According to Yucatán’s Ministry of Rural Development (Seder), henequen cultivation has grown: from 12,000 hectares in 2012 to 15,000 in 2018 — a 25% increase. In that period some 27,000 tonnes were produced, worth 241 million pesos.

The fibre’s main market is countries in Asia and Europe. So if you’re looking for a business idea, start up in Mérida and invest in this fibre.

Henequen is produced in more than 20 towns in Yucatán — Izamal, Motul, Muxupip, Sanahcat, Sinanché, Suma de Hidalgo, Tekal de Venegas, Tekantó, Tepakán, Teya and others — where more than 3,000 farmers devote part of their land to it. The industry is complemented by 16 defibring plants in towns such as Acanceh, Bokobá, Cansahcab, Dzemul, Hocabá and Homún.

Tourism: start up in Mérida and its haciendas

The henequen business is also reinventing itself through tourism, a very important part of the Yucatecan economy.

Investment in Mérida bets on tourism, and many old henequen haciendas have been turned into luxury hotels with sophisticated amenities — a great draw for tourists who want to see the nearby archaeological ruins and meet the region’s henequen past.

Many of these haciendas still keep their plantation and production machinery. Staying there includes guided tours explaining the whole growing and production process. Some also have cenotes and attract many tourists.

Henequen haciendas in Yucatán to visit

Hacienda Xcanatún. Less than 10 minutes from Mérida, built in the 18th century. Once agricultural and cattle-raising, in the 19th century it began growing and processing henequen. Today it can be visited and operates as a luxury hotel.

Tanil. No more than 15 kilometres from Mérida, on the edge of Umán, founded in the late 16th century. An important henequen hacienda you can visit to learn how the industry developed.

Crafts, accessories and design objects

Another business in and around Mérida, linked to henequen, is textile design. More than 5,000 designers and artisans in the state design and make different products with this generous fibre — from shoes to wallets, bags, decorative objects, even jewellery and crafts. They are grouped in 40 cooperatives and workshops.

All the products are natural, made by recovering the ancestral techniques used to spin the henequen fibre. This group of entrepreneurs already has more than a thousand products on the market and can make over 300 pieces per week.

Interested in investing in the henequen business in Yucatán? Start up in Mérida!

We recommend: Paseo de Montejo, an avenue to walk over the heart of Yucatán.