Nate Winkler, the owner of Oregon Yerba Mate and the Santiago Mate Co., stands in his mate-packaging area behind the Toucan Café in Redmond. Winkler keeps more than 2 tons of mate on hand, he said.
Pete Erickson / The Bulletin
In Central Oregon, a sip of South America
Yerba mate, touted as an alternative to coffee, has a pair of area entrepreneurs thinking big
By David Holley / The Bulletin
Last modified: November 09. 2009 2:30PM PSTTwo local entrepreneurs are heading full-force into a niche sector of the beverage industry — yerba mate — but on two different paths.
Nate Winkler and Santiago Casanueva, former business partners who helped introduce Central Oregon to the South American drink, founded Santiago Mate Co. in 2005 in Redmond. Since then, the two have parted ways, but each is continuing to venture deeper into the business of mate (pronounced MA'-tay).
Winkler has maintained ownership of Santiago Mate and has rebranded as Oregon Yerba Mate, distributed by Santiago Mate Co. Winkler is pushing wholesale distribution of the tealike drink and sells his product nationally in 77 retail locations. He also sells mate by the cup and by the half-pound at the Toucan Café in downtown Redmond, where Santiago Mate started.
This year, Winkler made a deal to distribute Oregon Yerba Mate to one of the Northwest's largest retailers, Whole Foods, in Bend and in the company's Portland stores.
Casanueva, on the other hand, is staying local — for now. He's opening a new mate teahouse, Top Leaf Mate Bar, in downtown Bend at 869 Tin Pan Alley, where he plans to sell specialized mate drinks to make the bitter-tasting beverage more accessible.
Casanueva, who also distributes wholesale mate as Top Leaf Yerba Mate, wants to build a mate teahouse franchise and eventually become the “Starbucks of mate.”
Although they are doing it differently — one hoping to expand in wholesale, the other focusing on retail — both men want to promote the use of mate, a drink that they tout as healthy and an alternative to coffee.
Yerba mate has been rising in popularity as a beverage since the late 1990s, when a California-based company, Guayaki, became one of the nation's first mate retailers. The drink is made from the dried leaves of yerba mate trees found in South American countries such as Brazil, Argentina and Paraguay.
Most commonly, it's brewed and sipped like a tea. Historically, the drink plays a large role in South American culture and was highlighted in the 2004 film “The Motorcycle Diaries.”
Before distributors like Guayaki came on the map, mate was typically found only in South America and in coffee shops whose owners had stumbled onto it. Those involved in selling yerba mate, which naturally has caffeine and multiple vitamins and minerals, say its growing popularity is in part due to the belief that its natural ingredients make it a safer, healthier alternative to coffee.
“We seem to really like caffeine (in the U.S.),” said Dr. Steven Dentali, chief science officer at the East Coast-based American Herbal Products Association. “This is another way to get a safe source of caffeine.”
Yerba mate still remains a niche drink, said Gary Hemphill, managing director of the Beverage Marketing Corp., a New York City research, data and consulting firm. But the drink is more available than it was even a few years ago, Hemphill said, adding that he has seen it on the shelves of his local grocery store.
“The distribution of the product, while it's growing and expanding, is not particularly broad,” Hemphill said. “The products are relatively expensive. They're going to appeal to a certain demographic. We think it's a segment ... (that's) going to grow.”
Winkler, of Oregon Mate, is counting on that expected growth. In the next year, he hopes to double his distribution, mostly through Whole Foods. He said he continuously receives calls from people interested in working as sales representatives, who would approach potential retailers.
Landing an account with Whole Foods is what is going to really make his business, he said.
“I can call other places and say Whole Foods carries our products. That's a done deal,” he said.
Winkler said his product stands out because he blends other herbs and minerals with the mate. At the Toucan Café, he also sells mate lattes and other espresso-like drinks.
Those espresso mate drinks are what will be the foundation of Casanueva's business. Casanueva became known throughout the Bend community for owning another mate bar, Mate Ago's, which closed in 2007.
Although he also does wholesale distribution as Top Leaf Yerba Mate — both Casanueva and Winkler sell their product at Natures General Store — Casanueva said he is more concerned with building the retail stores — places that have an environment that reflects the drink: a chic, eco-friendly teahouse that is accessible to anyone.
“It's South American-casual,” Casanueva said. “I want a franchise that can grab anybody's attention from 18 to 60.”
When his downtown Bend store opens in about two weeks, Casanueva said he also plans to sell food, such as rice and beans.
As the leading U.S. distributor of yerba mate, Guayaki co-founder David Karr said his company is marketing the drink constantly. He's currently working on radio promotions to advertise the company's new canned mate drink.
As a sign of mate's rising popularity, Minute Maid has started selling a strawberry-kiwi juice with mate extract.
Like the Central Oregon mate sellers, Karr said he is seeing growth and wants it to continue. Karr also wants to someday open mate teahouses.
“We want the category to grow,” he said. “We want to be the premium player in it.”
That shouldn't concern smaller mate distributors, such as Winkler and Casanueva, said Hemphill of Beverage Marketing. Any growth in a burgeoning market like yerba mate is good growth, he said.
“While those two are technically competitors, the marketplace is open and undeveloped enough at this point where they're only helping each other,” Hemphill said.
Winkler agrees.
“Competition, at this point, is good,” he said.
David Holley can be reached at 541-383-0323 or at dholley@bendbulletin.com.
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