ISLP’s client, Beneficial Returns, recently closed the financing of a loan to Guayakí a California based beverage company that aims to restore acres of the South American Atlantic rainforest through the production of yerba mate while creating living wage jobs in the region by 2020.
Guayakí sells loose tea, tea bags, canned drinks and bottled drinks – all containing yerba mate – a caffeinated plant that is native to the Atlantic rainforest of South America.
In 2017, over 500,000 metric tons of yerba mate were harvested by vast plantations exacerbating the ongoing issue of deforestation facing the South American rainforests.
In efforts to counter the destructive effects on the ecosystem caused by logging, cattle grazing and mono-cropping –that has wiped out 85% of the Atlantic rainforest – Guayakí built an international market for shade-grown yerba mate. Guayakí sources shade grown yerba mate exclusively from cooperatives in Brazil, Paraguay and Argentina. This model allows allows local farmers and indigenous tribes, to generate income from the forest by restoring and preserving this precious ecosystem.
Though this approach, Guayakí has protected and restored over 130,000 acres of rainforest. To maintain this trajectory, Beneficial Returns, an impact investment fund designed to support the growth of leading social enterprises operating in the developing world, provided Guayakí a loan to build a factory in Brazil to process their yerba mate on site. The construction of this factory will not only allow Guayakí to conitnue producing quality products, but most importantly, achieve it’s mission of environmental and economic sustainability.
Thank you to the Hogan Lovells Team for their work on the successful execution of this project!
Watch the video below to learn more about Benefical Returns and Guayaki’s work.