It all started at the beginning of this week: the Government, through the National Institute of Yerba Mate (INYM), authorized an immediate increase of 52.9% in the price received by yerba mate producers. But it was not the only increase that enabled: there will be successive increases in May, of 4.7%, and in June, of an additional 7.1%.
In total, 60 days from now, the price of yerba at the wholesale level will adjust by 71.5%.
That increase, now, threatens to go down directly to the gondolas. This is required by the main industrial companies. It was what they claimed from the Government, which for now put the situation in a freezer.
Faced with this situation, the producing companies suspended the deliveries of yerba packages to wholesalers, distributors and supermarket chains. Before continuing with the business, they prefer to reach an agreement with the Government on the increases that it will end up enabling. It sounds logical.
The problem is that consumers should pay for the package of weed with sharp increases in the coming weeks.
A one-kilo package of weed costs between $800 and $1,000. Some premium brands sell above this value.
Mate is in crisis: the price of yerba shoots up and they are already talking about possible shortages
