Among canned and bottled tea drinks, the next largest yerba mate producer was Yachak, which saw sales decline 10.4% to $20.5 million in the period.Īs yerba mate has benefitted from a surge in energy drink sales, brands are now bringing in experts from the category to lead their next stages of growth. According to IRI, which also tracks convenience, the company grew sales of its canned and bottled teas 28.2% to $66 million in the 52-week period ending March 21, while its canned yerba mate drinks were up 26.6% to $37.4 million. Within yerba mate, category pioneer Guayaki remains the dominant player. “What makes yerba mate better than guarana or guayusa or green coffee extract or anything else? I think what it has is the story of its original consumption, which is the South American and all that, but I don’t know how much that story really resonates among American consumers.” “Anecdotally, I think it is a small part of the overall trend,” Barry said. shoppers, but rather the beneficiary of the broader plant-based and better-for-you trends. While there is no shortage of sources for clean energy on the market, Euromonitor senior consultant of beverages Matthew Barry, however, believes yerba mate’s recent growth might not necessarily be the result of a sudden thirst for the South American plant among U.S. “The next generation of consumers are looking to vote with their dollar by supporting brands that are changing the way business is done for the environment and social impact.” “It’s been amazing to watch the conventional channels and mainstream consumers pick up on emerging natural brands … that are healthier and responsibly produced,” Karr said.
Yerba mate is also increasingly becoming a way for natural channel brands to expand their reach into convenience and conventional, such as the relaunch of Brew Dr’s Uplift line which has given the kombucha-maker a new conversation starter with buyers as it grows its distribution footprint.Īnswering questions via email, Guayaki co-founder David Karr told BevNET that there has been a “large uptick” in consumer awareness of yerba mate over the past five years, particularly beyond the brand’s West Coast homebase where the category has historically been the strongest. More recently, plant-based energy has received mainstream attention as Molson Coors Beverage Company partnered with actor Dwayne Johnson to launch ZOA nationwide this winter.
However, natural energy drinks have begun making headways to become a more sizable share of the category according to a 2020 report from ingredient supplier Doehler, around 15% of new energy drinks launched globally in 2019 claimed to be “natural,” a 17% year-over-year increase. energy drink category, up 14.4% for the 52-week period ending June 5, per Nielsen. Comparatively, yerba mate is still a drop in the bucket compared to the broader $15.2 billion U.S.
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