The Spanish Conquistadors and the Jesuits
From the Guaranis the Conquistadors learned the use of yerba mate and its virtues, and helped spread its consumption extraordinarily to the extent that it was commercialized intensively from its area of origin to the rest of the Viceroytitley of the River Plate. Later the Jesuits introduced the cultivation of yerba mate in some of their reductions. Their missions were distributed throughout the region covered by the province of Misiones, north of Corrientes, south of Paraguay and southwest of Brazil, in order to avoid the great distances that separated them from the places of production. The Jesuits had found the secret of the mysterious germination of the yerba seeds, discovering that only those seeds that had gone through the digestive system of toucans would germinate. However, as they were expelled in 1769, they took their secret with them, the plantations were abandoned and the tradition of cultivation of yerba mate was lost. Though the Jesuits preferred a tea made with yerba rather than mates, they were largely responsible for introducing yerba mate to the civilized world, where it became known as "the Jesuits' tea".

Bonpland and Ilex Paraguarensis
Over half a century later, the famous French naturalist Aimé Bonpland started the first scientific studies of the yerba mate plant, its cultivation and uses. Two years later, in Paris, botanist Saint Hilaire classified yerba mate as Ilex Paraguarensis. It was Bonpland who rediscovered the secret of germination, but the secret was lost again with the disappearance of the botanist. Only towards 1903 in Santa Ana -Misiones- it was once again learned that only those seeds that have been through the digestive system of certain birds can germinate, and the first modern plantation of Yerba Mate took place. Until then and for many years, the yerba that was consumed came from the jungle, from wild plants that grew in densely populated spots called islands. Irrational exploitation, in which tree felling was common for centuries, ended up depleting a resource that seemed inexhaustible. Only through rational planting did the yerba cultivations find their place in history again.

Yerba in the twentieth century
The great yerba manufacturing industries of Argentina were born during the first years of the twentieth century. They settled in the ports of the South, Rosario and Buenos Aires, since yerba mate, which continued to be exploited mostly in the natural forests of Brazil and Paraguay, was transported along the Paraná River. In the 1920s, when colonization of Misiones began, the National Government awarded lands to the European settlers on condition that part of these be planted with yerba mate. When those plantations started yielding their crops, the industrial yerba manufacturers of Rosario and Buenos Aires refused to buy that yerba, since it was more convenient to continue purchasing the Paraguayan and Brazilian raw material. Soon this situation caused a great crisis in Misiones, since the producers were unable to sell their production; as a consequence of this, the first state intervention took place. In 1936 Law 12.236 was passed that created the Yerba Mate Regulatory Commission and the National Yerba Mate Canchada Consignee Market, by means of which the plantation of yerba mate was prohibited and production quotas were established. As the State's intervention undermined the entrepreneurial spirit of the yerba producers, the industrialists of Buenos Aires and Rosario continued importing yerba from Paraguay and Brazil. In 1989 the Regulatory Commission was eliminated without creating a mechanism that would get the producers used to working without state intervention, leaving them suddenly exposed to the market. This led to the latest overproduction crisis in 1995, when an excess of raw material brought about a gradual but important price fall that has lasted to the present.

The cultivation of yerba now
In spite of innumerable attempts and as the centuries went by, yerba mate always resisted growing outside the perimeter inhabited of old by the Guaranis. It was born in South America and continues to be a very South American plant, but it does not grow anywhere in the continent. The area of distribution of yerba mate is restricted to the northeast of Corrientes, Misiones, Paraguay and south of Brazil. In these areas the combination of temperature, humidity and soil offer the ideal conditions for its development. Even though efforts have been made to cultivate it in similar areas of North America, Asia and Africa, all attempts have failed, and yerba mate has been preserved as an exclusive treasure of invaluable importance for these regions.

Mate, a healthy habit
When exactly the Guaranis discovered the virtues of yerba and how they developed the best way to enjoy it remains in the dark prehistoric past. We do know, however, that the Spaniards instantly adopted this indigenous habit and the Creoles converted it into a fruit of passion and identity. From the processing of yerba to the way it is consumed, the custom of drinking mate has remained from remote times through five centuries of history, taking deeper and deeper roots in the habits of the south of South America and even extending to far off places. In Argentina it is the beverage of highest consumption, second only to tap water, without class or age distinctions.