Trends and challenges in the Mexican consumer market

The consumer sector has shown mixed results during the first half of 2025, reflecting significant changes in consumer behavior, both financially and personally.

This sector experienced a slight slowdown, resulting from the price increases most companies implemented to offset a drop in sales volumes.

However, consumers have adopted new ways of shopping, driven by the use of digital technologies, including both companies' own platforms and secondary platforms.

In addition, a shift in consumer trends has been observed, with a greater preference for healthier or lower-priced products.

We have also seen growing political and economic uncertainty in both Mexico and the United States, a key sales country for several companies in the sector.

For example, Bimbo—one of the largest Mexican companies in the world—obtains nearly 50% of its sales in the United States and 32% in Mexico. Gruma, for its part, registers more than 50% of its sales in the U.S. market.

This exposure has represented a significant challenge, primarily due to two factors: exchange rate fluctuations and tariff pressures experienced during the first quarter of the year.

These tariff pressures were partially offset by the fact that some companies have both production and distribution plants in the United States, which helped mitigate the negative effects of the tariffs imposed by the current president of that nation.

Such is the case of Cuervo, which presented an outstanding report during the second quarter of 2025. Although it registered a decrease in sales volume, net sales and profit margins showed a significant increase in sequential terms, after having faced a close of 2024 and a start of 2025 with strong pressure.

In the alcoholic beverage sector, Cuervo was the company least affected by the tariffs because it has a bottling plant in the United States, which allowed it to mitigate the impact and positively impact its profit margins.

On the other hand, personal care and cleaning products companies, such as Kimberly-Clark de México, faced a more challenging environment during the second quarter.

Although they reported record net sales for the second quarter, they failed to achieve year-over-year growth, which impacted profit margins. Although this segment showed some sequential improvement, it continues to face pressure, primarily due to the entry of new competitors who have increased market supply.

Finally, carbonated beverage companies, such as Arca Continental and Coca-Cola FEMSA, reported mixed results.

During the second quarter of this year, it was observed that consumers have not significantly changed their consumption patterns regarding the products offered by these companies.

However, sales volume was affected by recent weather conditions in the country, such as heavy rains, which hampered access to points of sale and the mobility of transporters.

Despite these challenges, the consumer sector continues to demonstrate resilience.

Therefore, we anticipate a second half of 2025 with improvements in both sales and volume and profit margins, driven by a more favorable exchange rate and stable consumer spending patterns.