RSF Lends to Guayaki!

The RSF Mezzanine Fund recently closed a loan to Guayaki, the social enterprise that imports certified organic, rainforest-grown yerba mate from South America.  The company has a bold mission to steward and restore 200,000 acres of South American Atlantic rainforest and create over 1,000 living wage jobs by 2020.  Their innovative business model, which they call “Market Driven Restoration,” directly links customer purchases to their partner farming communities in the rainforest.  Guayaki’s partners in South America sustainably harvest organic yerba mate from rainforest-grown cultivations and reforestation projects, generating a renewable income stream that enables these communities to improve their lives and restore their lands.   Yerba mate has been drunk for centuries in South America and is known there as the “drink of the gods.”  People drink it daily for health, sustained energy, and mental clarity.  Along with its naturally occurring caffeine, yerba mate leaves contain 24 vitamins and minerals, 15 amino acids, and abundant antioxidants.  According to Guayaki, each person that drinks two daily servings of their yerba mate helps protect approximately one acre of rainforest per year.

RSF is proud to have made a loan to a business with such a deep commitment to restoring communities and rainforests in South America.  To find out more about Guayaki, visit www.guayaki.com.  To learn how to invest in the RSF Mezzanine Fund (and help RSF make more loans like this one), click here, or to learn more about receiving mezzanine financing, click here.

Click below to watch a short video about an inaugural yerba mate harvest in Paraguay.

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• Printed from http://rsfsocialfinance.org/2009/12/rsf-lends-to-guayaki/