Our friends GUAYAKI YERBA MATE have been selected as 1 of 12 finalists from nearly 1000 entries in the BBC World Challenge. The World Challenge is a global competition in its 7th year at the BBC World News. It seeks to highlight and reward small businesses around the world that bring economic, social and environmental benefits to local communities through innovation and enterprise at a grassroots level.
Guayaki Yerba Mate began when two friends, one from the US and another from Argentina, discovered the traditional South American Mate rainforest tea drink made from a subspecies of holly plant. Consumed across the continent, the plant has a high caffeine content. Having fallen in love with the rainforest where the plant grows, the pair started the company as a Fair Trade organic producer that aims to conserve the ecosystem while also turning a profit. As well as the traditional tea, the company has also launched an energy drink derived from the plant for the US market. Using an innovative business model that directly links customers' purchases to farming communities, Guayaki Yerba Mate believes they have all the ingredients for their own brand of market-driven conservation.
VOTE here. Voting closes at midnight(GMT) on 11th November 2011 http://www.theworldchallenge.co.uk/finalists/6/Jungle-Brew
Follow BBC World Challenge on Twitter @WorldChallenge
Find out more about this fab company at http://guayaki.com
