How do you take yerba mate mainstream? Start with a soccer ball.
That’s the idea New York-based startup Pablo’s Mate will be testing this weekend as it calls together independent bodegas from across the five boroughs for a little seven-on-seven at Brooklyn’s McCarren Park this Saturday, July 12. Dubbed the Chopped Cheese Classic, the morning-long tournament (and subsequent afternoon-long block party) for bodega owners, workers and their loved ones is a microcosm of what Pablo’s Mate co-founders Danny Rose and Maggie Hogan say their brand represents.
“I fell in love with mate from playing soccer,” said Rose. “I think a little bit of the success we are having in terms of galvanizing the community and getting people to do something like the Chopped Cheese Classic is we are just sticking with what feels right.”
In football-obsessed countries like Argentina and Uruguay, yerba mate and soccer are both deeply embedded into the national culture, with mate-chugging stars like Lionel Messi and Luis Suarez serving as unofficial ambassadors for the drink on the global stage. Yet as translated for U.S. consumers, RTD yerba mate brands – Yerba Madre (formerly Guayaki), Mateina, CLEAN Cause and others – have mostly highlighted the drink’s functional properties, health benefits and responsible ingredient sourcing to tell their stories.
Pablo’s approach is different, starting with its namesake. In the brand’s origin story, Pablo Pescao was a globetrotting Colombian soccer player who discovered yerba mate as the ideal fuel for both games and travel excursions. On 12 oz. cans of the brand’s flagship SKU, The Complete Futbolista, flavored with lemon and cinnamon, Pablo is pictured with a travel backpack on and a soccer ball under his arm.
Though Rose brings a passion for the game to Pablo’s, he also has industry experience. Born in Colombia, Rose grew up in Maryland and already had stints as a regional manager at Lemon Perfect and field marketing leader at CORE Hydration on his resume before moving back to Colombia to begin working on an RTD yerba mate. After working through R&D and initial product runs in South America, Rose returned to New York to begin bootstrapping his new brand in 2022.
Hogan, meanwhile, was familiar with yerba mate from time spent traveling in Argentina when she met Rose at a party in 2023 while working on digital strategy at EY (Ernst & Young). The co-founders began self-distributing the four-SKU line (100mg caffeine each) in November.
In a global city like New York City, the brand’s focus on soccer has unlocked access to already thriving groups and communities. Thus far, that’s included everything from watch parties and fundraisers to a partnership with city-based street football group Tal3nto for a “secret mission” documented on YouTube. Pablo’s Mate is also the exclusive sponsor for VIPs of this year’s Game of Legends, a charity match in August featuring a bevy of former international stars.
The Chopped Cheese Classic is something of a culmination of the relationships Pablo’s has built in New York as it has seeded the market. On the soccer side, the brand has enlisted producers Club Eleven, De Nos and Tactico 90 to help with permitting and digital storytelling – including live streaming of the full tournament and afterparty on Twitch and YouTube – while amateur league NYC Footy is helping manage tournament operations. On the CPG side, friends like Best Day Brewing, Pa’lante Rum and Bronx Brewing will be served on-site, along with plenty of free Pablo’s Mate. Naturally, there will also be several varieties of NYC’s favorite bodega creation, from classic takes to a decadent wagyu beef version from Shmackwich.
In an ironic twist, local MLS club the New York Red Bulls will also make an appearance; “They approached us, and we’re happy to have them,” Hogan said.
To the founders, the Chopped Cheese Classic is both a clear acknowledgement of the brand’s connections to soccer, but also an opportunity to look beyond.
“Ultimately, this is a tea with clean, simple ingredients,” said Hogan. “We like to position it that way, but without banging people over the head with the wellness proposition. My goal is to make this really a mass market yerba mate brand, in a way that doesn’t alienate millions of Americans who might be intimidated or not feel that the health food aisle is for them. So that’s why convenience stores, bodegas, and the 7-Elevens in middle America, those sales channels are super relevant to us as we aim to reach people beyond the organic supermarkets.”
Rose and Hogan have been self-distributing to those independent accounts thus far, but they’re set to gain significant support next week when Pablo’s Mate joins DSD house Gold Coast, whose director of business development, Mishka Aminov, praised the product’s taste and branding. That expansion – along with an ongoing funding round targeting $2 million – sets the stage for further growth in 2026, when the U.S., Mexico and Canada host the newly expanded FIFA World Cup. Yerba mate will be fueling teams from across South America, and Pablo wants a piece.
“We want to be the unofficial beverage of the FIFA World Cup, 2026, and what does that mean?,” said Rose. “That means that we don’t necessarily want to pay our way – we want to be invited. We want the community to want us. And honestly, that’s what has been happening in New York and Miami and L.A. Our inboxes are popping up with events because of our involvement in the market and what we’re doing in New York.”