Founded in 1918 by Emiliano Abrão Seleme, Canoinhas industrial pioneer, used to export erva mate cancheada to Argentina by steamboats up Mafra, following by train to the port of São Francisco do Sul.

Its facilities were small, with wood pestler in a simple shed.

In 1957, his brother, João Abrão Seleme, took over the company and exports increased. Besides Argentina, it started exporting to Uruguay and Chile. At this stage, it needed to modernize to serve a rapidly growing market. It was built a new building with the most modern equipment for the time.

In the following decade Argentina quitted import from Brazil because of its huge herbal planted in the province of Missiones. Started exporting to Chile, causing a massive recession to the Yerba Mate industries in Brazil. Many companies have closed, mostly exporting companies.

Mate Seleme overcame the crisis and remained on the market, exporting to Uruguay, because their taste buds demanded native yerba from Brazil.

The company was growing again, but major floods in 1983 and 1992 forced the industry to move again its facilities.

In 1995, Ervateira was passed to João’s children, Jaime and Wilson and in 1998 was inaugurated the new facilities at Adão Tyska Street. Targetink new markets, the company started exporting to Poland.

In 2010, Wilson Seleme and his children Juliane Seleme Brehmer and Wilson Seleme Segundo became major shareholders and they are in the company direction so far, expanding exports to Americas, Europe and Orient with their products appreciate in three continents.

The plant can reach forty feet tall. Has gray stems, oval leaves and small green or purplish-red fruit. Erva mate leaves are utilized in cooking. The native plants used to reproduce only by birds of the region who ate the small fruit and defecated its seed already scarified. The seedling is very sensitive to the sun, requiring shading until it reaches some maturity. Became prohibited in southern of Brazil during the sixteenth century being considered “the devil’s grass” by Jesuit priests of Reduções do Guairá. From the seventeenth century, they began to encourage its use in order to pull people away from alcohol. Nowadays, there are seed-plot producing seedlings of selected varieties, whose planting is done with special techniques in large orchards. In order to make the annual harvest of the branches easier, the tree is severely pruned to keep no more than ten feet tall. Thus, it is avoided tall plants that may difficult the harvest of young leaves, considered noble in mate tea infusion.

BENEFITS