Yerba Mate Cooperatives Sign Federal Export Accord

Three of Tierra Verde's principal yerba mate cooperatives signed a framework accord with the federal Ministry of Trade in Meridian on 19 May, formalising a certified organic export channel that growers have sought for nearly four years. The agreement covers an estimated 8 400 tonnes of processed leaf for the 2026 harvest season.

The accord arrives as Tierra Verde records what regional agronomists are calling its strongest yerba mate yield since 2015. Unusually steady rainfall through March and April, combined with a soil-management programme introduced by the San Vicente Agricultural Institute in 2023, is credited with the improvement.

For the cooperatives ??? Cooperativa Yerbatera del Norte, Uni??n Verde, and the smaller Asociaci??n de Productores de Colinas Altas ??? the federal certification pathway removes a bureaucratic barrier that had long forced smaller growers to sell through intermediaries at reduced margins.

What the accord does not yet resolve is the question of transport infrastructure. The road connecting the processing facilities near Arroyo Claro to the federal rail terminus at Puente Largo remains unpaved for a critical 40-kilometre stretch, and cooperative leaders say that gap may yet limit how much of the certified harvest reaches export markets in time. The full terms of the logistics annex, still under negotiation, will determine whether the season's promise is kept.