{"id":408320,"date":"2026-04-02T10:30:51","date_gmt":"2026-04-02T13:30:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/anba.com.br\/?p=408320"},"modified":"2026-04-02T10:31:00","modified_gmt":"2026-04-02T13:31:00","slug":"erva-mate-parana-aims-to-return-to-arab-markets","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/anba.com.br\/en\/erva-mate-parana-aims-to-return-to-arab-markets\/","title":{"rendered":"Erva Mate Paran\u00e1 aims to return to Arab markets"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

S\u00e3o Paulo \u2013 Founded in 2016 by Danilo Richartz Benke, Erva Mate Paran\u00e1<\/a> has taken its yerba mate\u2013based products to more than 30 countries, including the Arab markets of Lebanon, the United Arab Emirates, Syria and Egypt. Its first export to the region came after the company took part in the Gulfood food fair in Dubai, UAE, in the same year it was founded.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAfter a year of negotiations with a contact there, we began exporting to Dubai, and that business continued until 2021. In the same period, we managed to sell to Egypt, Lebanon and Syria. We stopped exporting five years ago because we lost our contact,\u201d Benke recalls.<\/p>\n\n\n

\n
\"Pura
Pura Folha is one of the yerba mate products sold by the company<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

Despite this, the entrepreneur still sees strong potential in the Arab market due to cultural affinity with the Brazilian product and the Middle East\u2019s tradition of drinking tea.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He notes that the conflict currently unfolding in the region affects logistics but does not prevent supplying that market.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cConflicts in the Arab world can, at times, create logistical and commercial instability, affecting timelines, costs and business predictability. Even so, experience shows that, even when a conflict is prolonged, the market tends to gradually reorganize. Over time, trade flows usually return to levels close to previous ones, albeit with operational adjustments,\u201d he told ANBA.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In its previous experience with the Arab market, the Brazil-based company made adaptations to meet local tastes. \u201cDuring the export period to the region, we developed a specific standard of aged yerba mate, with cutting and flavor characteristics tailored to consumer preferences,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Benke explains that one of the main challenges in resuming business with Arab markets is competition from other brands.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cArab League countries consume a lot of tea and mate, but they have had their suppliers for many years. So for us to enter, it\u2019s usually because another company ran into problems, lowered quality or did something wrong,\u201d the businessman explains.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cMy idea is to resume participation in international trade fairs and return to Gulfood in Dubai in the coming years to seek new business partners in the region.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the latest edition, the company\u2019s products and catalogs were taken to the fair by Paran\u00e1 state industry group Fiep, which exhibited alongside Invest Paran\u00e1 and Ocepar, in an initiative that also had the support of the Arab-Brazilian Chamber of Commerce<\/strong> (ABCC<\/a>).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Arab roots<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Of Lebanese descent on his father\u2019s side, Benke grew up watching his father and grandfather drink chimarr\u00e3o at home. The habit sparked his interest in the product, which years later would become the focus of his career. \u201cI already had that reference at home. My father and my grandfather drank chimarr\u00e3o, so mate was always part of my routine,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Despite this connection to the drink, his professional path began in another field. Trained as a civil engineer, he decided while still in college not to pursue the profession. In search of new directions, he entered foreign trade, initially at companies in other sectors and later at a large yerba mate company.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThis connection with the segment rekindled the passion I had for the drink since childhood. I spent years working at companies in this market while developing the idea of starting my own business,\u201d Benke recalls.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Beyond chimarr\u00e3o<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The company, founded in Curitiba 10 years ago, now produces more than 20 items derived from the plant, including yerba mate for traditional chimarr\u00e3o, yerba mate in the Uruguayan style\u2014known as aged mate\u2014and teas made from toasted leaves.<\/p>\n\n\n

\n
\"Toasted
Toasted mate tea is also part of the catalog<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

\u201cI wanted to expand the consumption of yerba mate beyond the traditional gourd, popular in southern Brazil. I wanted to show that the same plant can produce different products, such as hot or iced teas, that connect with the global beverage market,\u201d the businessman explains.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This diversification has allowed the brand to reach consumers in different countries. Among the main destinations for the Brazilian company\u2019s products are Australia, Switzerland and Canada. With a focus on exports in 2024 and 2025, international sales grew by approximately 30%.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIn 2020, the year of the pandemic, I saw my domestic sales drop by 95%, so I decided to invest in foreign clients. To do that, I started taking part in talks and virtual meetings and sought support from institutions such as Apex (the Brazilian Trade and Investment Promotion Agency) to reach other markets. Today, about 40% of production is destined for export,\u201d Benke concludes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Read also<\/em>:
Saudi Arabia opens yerba mate market to Brazil<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Report by Rebecca Vettore, in collaboration with ANBA<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Translated by Guilherme Miranda<\/strong><\/p>\n

Supplied<\/div>
Supplied<\/div>
Supplied<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Brazil-based company is betting on a diverse range of mate products for export. One of its goals is to resume shipments to Arab markets, where it had clients in the past. The conflict in the Middle East may require operational adjustments, but the company believes the market will gradually reorganize.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2342,"featured_media":404449,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[107],"tags":[9583,48455,9561,48585,56351,9579,40778],"class_list":{"0":"post-408320","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-business-opportunities","8":"tag-arabs-en","9":"tag-egypt-2","10":"tag-exports-en","11":"tag-lebanon-2","12":"tag-tea","13":"tag-uae-en","14":"tag-yerba-mate"},"wps_subtitle":"Brazil-based company is betting on a diverse range of mate products for export. One of its goals is to resume shipments to Arab markets, where it had clients in the past. The conflict in the Middle East may require operational adjustments, but the company believes the market will gradually reorganize.","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/anba.com.br\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/408320","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/anba.com.br\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/anba.com.br\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/anba.com.br\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2342"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/anba.com.br\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=408320"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/anba.com.br\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/408320\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":408322,"href":"https:\/\/anba.com.br\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/408320\/revisions\/408322"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/anba.com.br\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/404449"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/anba.com.br\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=408320"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/anba.com.br\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=408320"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/anba.com.br\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=408320"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}