Saturday, April 14, 2007

Brazilian yerba mate drink heads north

Guayakí is pulling out all the stops to let North American consumers know about its new beverages.

The Brazilian company has launched a trio of new organic yerba mate fusions it calls Pure Endurance, Pure Passion and Pure Mind.

Says the company: "These innovative functional drinks celebrate the South American rainforest tradition of handcrafting health-enhancing infusions of yerba mate (mah-tay) and medicinal herbs. They offer a boost of nutrition and sustained energy from the yerba mate, and well-being benefits from several powerful herbs that have been revered for centuries by ancient cultures. Each fusion is ... blended with organic fruit juices and other organic ingredients ... ."

To get the message across, Guayaki has even put videos on YouTube to push the brand name.

Yerba mate has been used for centuries in South America in herbal medicines, particularly in Peru. It has a complex blend of stimulants and nutrients its users say enhances the efficacy of other herbs and helps assimilate them into the body.

It is a plant belonging to the holly family. Its dried leaves and twigs are steeped in hot water rather than in boiling water like black tea or coffee.

The new products are sold in 16-ounce bottles for a suggested retail price of $1.99. They are available at natural foods stores, supermarkets, cafes and gyms throughout North America.

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