Yerba Mate - October Update

What a difference media attention makes. Exactly one year ago, Woman’s World magazine published an article profiling three women that used yerba mate in their weight loss program. I was contacted in July of ‘03 by the magazine and was asked if I had any customers who had lost weight using our yerba mate. I put them in contact with a customer in California who was the pied piper of yerba. She had gone from 230 lbs to 130 lbs! What I learned from her was this- She just didn’t sit on the couch and drink yerba mate and watch the pounds melt away. Yerba mate, however, gave her the needed mental approach and energy to stay consistent with her diet and her exercise regimen. For the month of October and November we were inundated with orders from people looking for the magic tea. Our internet business grew by over 300% with this one article. Today, yerba mate is an ingredient in almost all weight loss supplements. There is scientific proof that it does in fact increase your metabolism. In one study that I know of from Switzerland (1999), researchers performed a study on human subjects that indicated yerba mate could be beneficial as a weight-loss aid. They noticed a thermogenic effect in healthy individuals where a drop in respiratory quotient was observed, indicating a rise in the proportion of fat oxidized. For more information on the health benefits of yerba mate, please download our Yerba Mate FAQ (pdf file).

Please keep in mind if you are buying yerba to lose weight, other factors besides drinking yerba must be taken into consideration. One must look at his or her whole lifestyle. Our partners at eDiets can help provide you with the information and tools necessary to find the right balance of diet and excercise for you. My belief is, if you choose Aviva’s wild harvest yerba mate for your yerba, you are making the right decision. A recent study found shade-grown yerba to possess a higher concentration of nutrients than those plants cultivated under the hot sun. With that said, Aviva yerba is sure to provide a higher level of weight loss benefits than other brands!

Speaking of wild harvest.... SGS, the leading international organization for organic certification, has finally made their first audit report on our ranch in Paraguay. We are very excited about this because the initial audit came back with flying colors. Wild harvest certification for yerba mate has not been completed by anyone else in the marketplace. This kind of organization is functions as an incubator for farms that apply for organic certification. When SGS personnel arrived on the ranch they were treated to 20,000 acres of natural jungle. It is within this jungle environment that our yerba grows naturally. Typically, the inspectors see yerba plantations after the jungle has been cleared and nice neat rows of yerba seedlings have been planted. In some cases they leave the upper canopy and underlying plants intact, but still wipe out or stifle most of the natural growth. Even though it may be called sustainable cultivation, it still leaves quite a foot print of man on this subtropical jungle. I will keep you updated as I hear about the progress in Paraguay.

Flavored Loose Blends
Buy 2 Get 1 FREE!
PROMOTIONAL CODE: 3for2blends
*Limit one per order. Bags must be same flavor. Offer only good for 1/2lb or 1lb bags of Aviva Flavored or Summer blends. Simply add two bags to your shopping cart and utilize this promotional code at checkout. We will automatically add a 3rd bag for free when we process your order. Please note you will not see this bag reflected in the shopping cart or receipt. OFFER EXPIRES OCTOBER 31, 2004

I know I used the word earlier, but it is time we all get used to it- Holiday season. This year we will have some great gift giving ideas. Our motto again this year is, “Give a gift that not only tastes good, but is in good taste”. With this said, in the first week of November we are adding two new blends. The first is our Festive blend that is made from a little black tea, orange peel, cinnamon chips, almond, apple and..well, I can’t give all my secrets away, now can I? The other item is for our coffee lovers. There is a demand out there for roasted mate. Roasted mate comes from Southern Brazil. Brazil is the third largest coffee producing country in the world. So this is what the yerba growers have to compete with in their own country. They developed this roasted mate that they actually roast in a coffee roaster. This process destroys anything good about the yerba mate. Exposing yerba mate to these high temperatures takes away the good green. Aviva will not offer a roasted mate, but what we are going to offer for our coffee lovers is our Java Mate, 50% Aviva yerba mate and 50% Peruvian Organic. This coffee comes from the company that I used to own, Monarch Mountain Coffee (http://www.monarchmountaincoffee.com). It is certified organic, and most importantly it is air roasted coffee. This is a big difference when compared to traditional drum roasted coffee. With that said, let’s all have a great Holiday season and keep that yerba mate hot!