![]() But we want them to be the right doors at the right time. "We are in 6,000 stores, but there are 20,000–30,000 grocery stores and 40,000 convenience stores we can still go into. Karr asks NEWSWEEK's Small Business Panel: Founders Karr and Pryor, both 38, are determined to take yerba mate from the natural-food niche into the mainstream market. Still, many Americans haven't heard of the drink. The company's "market restoration model" is working: By selling 180 tons of shade-grown, fair-trade, organic yerba mate, Guayakí has helped steward and restore 17,000 acres of rainforest. Its various products-loose-leaf tea, tea bags, energy shots, and its biggest seller, ready-to-drink bottled mate-are sold in thousands of stores, including Whole Foods and Trader Joe's, as well as supermarkets such as Kroger, Wegmans, and Vons. ![]() Guayakí has every right to feel happy about the results: Revenues have been growing by 30 percent annually, and the company anticipates sales of $10 million this year. In Hollywood, they were even invited to serve their concoctions on a movie set. Their "mate lattes," made with soy milk and honey were a hit. five times in VW vans and RVs painted to look like a rainforest to preach the wonders of the South American beverage: Natural energy without jitters! Overall vitality! Clarity of mind! They showed up at stores without appointments and passed out sample sips. Karr, his brother, and another business partner crisscrossed the U.S. Thirteen years later, the drink, which outsells coffee 7–1 in Argentina, is beginning to catch on in the U.S., mostly thanks to the grassroots efforts of Pryor and Karr's company, Guayakí. "But I knew it would eventually catch on." "Everyone thought I was completely nuts," says Karr. After a few months of drinking a daily mate with Pryor, Karr ditched his own computer business to work on Pryor's venture, which sold mate as a way to encourage the native forest people of Argentina to sustainably live off their land. "I could breathe within minutes," he says. Karr credits the brew, yerba mate (prounounced "mah-tay"), popular in Pryor's native Argentina but relatively unknown in the States, for instantly relieving his allergies. A lot of college kids may start seeing things after a drink or two, but when David Karr saw his Cal Poly San Luis Obispo classmate Alex Pryor drinking a green infusion out of a gourd, Karr saw the future, he says.
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