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Grupo Modelo
Relatos de Malta
PR Publishing
Mexico
2018
PR
Context
A book made of beer
Beer is one of the main components of Mexican culture. Annual consumption of this beverage in Mexico is 75 liters per capita. Over the same period, Mexicans read only 3.8 books. Although there are many stories behind beer, the disparity between beer and book consumption is staggering.
Objective
The objective was to turn a love of beer into a love of reading in an original way, from different angles and for different audiences.
Challenge
How could each sip of beer be made tangible to celebrate its social nature and its ability to generate stories, and invite its lovers to read them?
The Idea
For its production, we implemented a reuse program for solid and wet waste at Grupo Modelo plants, as part of a sustainable circular process that enabled us to create a functional cycle never before seen in the industry.
With 120 kg of spent grain, we made special handmade paper for the first print run, thus creating the first book made 100% of beer, about beer.
The publication was produced in just two months. During this short time, spent grain was collected, the cover was designed by Liniers (an Argentine illustrator who has worked for The New Yorker, La Nación, and El País), and authors were selected; emerging and established writers Armando Vega-Gil, Iván Ballesteros, Wenceslao Bruciaga, Ruy Feben, Carlota Rangel, Michelle Pérez-Lobo, Verónica Maza Bustamante, Julián Herbert, Gabriel Rodríguez Liceaga, and Pedro Reyes had only one week to write their beer-inspired stories and experiences around it, while Mariana H, Javier Risco, Gina Jaramillo, Carlos Puig, and Mauro Mauad—among other opinion leaders—contributed quotes about what beer means to them.
Photo shoots were also carried out for ingredients, the plant, and the authors, along with the book’s graphic and editorial design, and the final editing by Museo Citadino (one of the most relevant publishing platforms in Mexico City, with publications such as Time Out México).
As the ideal setting for the book launch, we received an invitation from the 2018 Guadalajara International Book Fair—one of the most important literary events in Mexico and Latin America—to present it in its new space dedicated to gastronomy: Libros al Gusto, where Relatos de Malta was the clear protagonist.
The first book about beer, made of beer, for beer lovers.
