Yerba mate
As the world’s leading producer of yerba mate, Argentina cultivates the tree with production practices that are one hundred percent natural. Within Argentina, the plant is cultivated in the Misiones Province, where the trees thrive in the region’s humid, subtropical climate, growing to approximately 40-50 ft. tall before being harvested.
The Argentinian yerba mate tree is grown and harvested in the Province of Misiones and northwest of the Province of Corrientes.
Argentina is the world’s leading producer and exporter of yerba mate.
The red soils, rich in iron, together with the subtropical climate without a dry season, are ideal for the yerba mate cultivation.
In 2020, the production of ground and packaged yerba mate for the domestic market was almost 268.8 million kilos, which implies harvesting around 812.9 million kilos of green leaf.
Three kilograms of green leaves are required to produce 1 kg of yerba mate. This is due to the loss of water and weight the leaves suffer during the drying process.
Based on the data from the last Argentine census, there are 41 million inhabitants in the country. The yearly average yerba mate consumption is 6.4 kg per inhabitant.
According to a market research carried out throughout Argentina (1), yerba mate is present in more than 90% of Argentininian homes.
