There was a time when mate was a frontier oddity, a custom that Europeans viewed with suspicion at customs. Today it is a global phenomenon, with record export figures, millionaire ambassadors and, as the last postcard of the rise, a son of donald trump willing to sell it canned. The infusion that defines the River Plate identity stopped being folklore and became an international business, and has even been integrated since 2018 the list of Cultural Heritage of Mercosur.
The first driving force of this expansion was football. Lionel Messi, Luis Suarez, Diego Godin, Federico Valverde and Edinson Cavani They carried the thermos under their arm to each elite locker room, and the postcard of the player getting off the bus with the light bulb in his hand became customary. But the real cultural leap came when the Europeans “converted.” The witness case is Antoine Griezmann: The Frenchman learned about mate at Real Sociedad, thanks to South American teammates, and ended up declaring himself “Uruguayan” by adoption, with Godin as godfather to his son. “It gives me energy in the morning and in the afternoon. Some are afraid that I’ll get doped, but I already explained it to them,” the forward clarified, who popularized the term “matecito” on his networks.
The list multiplied quickly. Paul Pogba He admitted that he discovered it thanks to Marcos Rojo and Sergio Romero at Manchester United. At PSG, Angel Di Maria, Cavani and Presnel Kimpembe They did not move without their maternal team. Even English football fell: Harry Kane, Eric Dier, Kieran Trippier and Dele Alli They joined the ritual. own Cristiano Ronaldo, Kylian Mbappé and archers like Alisson Becker They complete a map that no longer recognizes nationalities. The World Cup Qatar 2022with the Argentine consecration, worked as the definitive lever: the brands themselves recognize that the footballers served as ambassadors and opened unexpected markets for them. The signature Taragüifrom the group The Mariaswas awarded at the Paris International Food Show for a kit designed to introduce foreign consumers to the ritual.
From the stadiums, the mate went to the sets. Viggo Mortensen —who lived his childhood in Argentina, is a San Lorenzo fan and carries a thermos with his initials—turned it into a personal brand: he said that more than once he was delayed at airports because of that “strange dry, green grass.” Zoe Saldana was photographed feeding during the filming of Avengers: Endgamecharacterized as Gamora. Stephen King appeared with a mate of the Independiente shield in It: Chapter 2. The payroll continues with Chris Pratt, Norman Reedus, Kevin Baconthe driver Conan O’Brienthe musicians James Hetfield and Anthony Kiedisand the always avant-garde Gwyneth Paltrow. Before them, they were already among the illustrious materos Madonna —who takes it to have energy before his shows— and even the leader Hillary Clinton. The appeal is clear: in a fast-paced world, mate offers a slow, social and shared ritual, with caffeine but without the guilt of coffee, and packages an idea of well-being that connects with the wellness obsession of the youngest.
The most commented chapter, however, was written by Barron Trump. The youngest son of the American president and Melania, 20 years old and a student at the Stern School of Business at New York University, is listed as one of the five partners of SOLLOS Yerba Mate Inc., along with Spencer Bernstein, Rudolfo Castello, Stephen Hall and Valentino Gómez. The company, based in Palm Beach—a stone’s throw from Mar-a-Lago—registered in January with the SEC, raised $1 million, and is preparing to launch in American supermarkets with a canned weed, pineapple, and coconut drink. The name derives from sun, and the commitment is to a single recipe: “We are not looking for a range of flavors, we are looking for the perfect drink,” the company explained. The brand is presented less as a drink than as a “lifestyle” built around weed and “natural and functional” ingredients, and is promoted by a group of twenty-something friends from South Florida. The launch, in May, was not without controversy: barely teased online, the project garnered criticism that ranged from opportunism to the accusation of appropriation of the Guaraní culture, the original owner of the infusion.
The land, in any case, was already fertilized. In the United States, weed has been growing for years as an alternative to coffee among those seeking “clean” energy of natural origin; Today that country matters more than 61 million dollars annually and is the second world destination, only behind Syriaa traditional market that consumes tens of thousands of tons. A new audience was added to the demand from Latin and Arab communities—fitness, technology offices, wellness influencers—who discovered the infusion through networks and athletes. The shelves of health food chains and American gyms already display cans of cold mate alongside energy drinks and kombuchas, on the same shelf of the wellness economy.
Behind the celebrities there is a business in full effervescence. In 2025, Argentine yerba mate exports marked a historical record: 57.9 million kilosa 32% more than the previous year, with revenues of about 117 million dollars. The global market, valued at about 2.03 billion dollarsplans to climb 3,460 million by 2035. And the phenomenon is not limited to the West: in the United Kingdom imports rose 40%while Asia-Pacific, led by Japan and Australia, shows the fastest growth and even China, an ancient tea power, is beginning to look at the category. The big puller is the ready-to-take format (RTD), which grew a 65% and it seduces multinational beverage companies, which see weed as a strategic vertical within the functional sector. Precisely the segment where the youngest Trump bets.
The paradox, of course, is very Argentine. While the world discovers mate as a premium product and Trump dreams of industrializing it, the local producer is going through its worst moment. Behind him DNU 70/2023which took away the power to set reference prices from the National Yerba Mate Institute, the gap between the gondola and the field widened: at the end of 2025 the yerba mate barely received the 11% of the final pricethe lowest level since 2019. The consequence was a chain of deferred payments of up to 120 days, rejected checks and an exodus of rural workers to Brazil; Some producers even threatened “no harvest.” The national symbol conquers gondolas on half the planet. In his own land, he still disputes how much he is worth.
Image gallery
