Yerba Madre is a beverage company specializing in yerba mate-based drinks and products that bring the traditional South American beverage to modern consumers. The company offers a diverse product portfolio, including ready-to-drink beverages, loose leaf yerba mate, and complementary accessories, catering to various consumption preferences and settings. Yerba Madre remains the leader in ready-to-drink yerba mate with an 85% market share in North America with products available at more than 45,000 retail locations across the U.S. and Canada.
Guayakí was founded in 1996 as a senior project at California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo by Alex Pryor and David Karr. Headquartered in Sebastopol and Venice, California, Yerba Madre sources organic, shade-grown yerba mate in direct partnership with 255 family farmers and Indigenous communities across Argentina, Brazil, and Paraguay. Operating with an employee range of 500-1,000 individuals and generating $210.9M in revenue, Yerba Madre distributes its products through extensive channels, including retail stores, online sales, cafes, and specialty beverage outlets, ensuring broad market accessibility.
The company was among the founding B Corps in 2007, the first to offer fair trade certified yerba mate under the Fair for Life standard in 2009, and first to source Regenerative Organic Certified® yerba mate and sugar cane in 2022. Yerba Madre is proudly the first yerba mate to be Regenerative Organic Certified® and the first company in South America to achieve ROC™ Gold status, marking a dual milestone in regenerative agriculture and ethical sourcing.
Recent Leadership News
Yerba Madre welcomes a new member to its Board, further strengthening the expertise guiding the company forward. Scott Miller is the co-founder and CEO of YESLY Water and brings extensive beverage and distribution experience from his time at Essentia, Keurig Dr Pepper, Tampico, and other leading brands. Additionally, Yerba Madre has announced the appointment of Steve Lesnard as Chief Executive Officer.
Facts compiled by Executive Moves from publicly available news and press releases on 21 July 2026. Spotted an inaccuracy? Email us and we'll review within 1 business day.
To upgrade to a Premium Profile reach out to us at info@executive-moves.com.
Are you on the Yerba Madre team?
This is a Light company page, auto-generated from public news coverage. Claim it to verify the company description, add logo and links, and control how your organisation is represented on Executive Moves.
Claim this company →
