WHEN | MET ALEX PRYOR in 1996, we satat an outdoor table near Barnes and Noble in downto Luis Obispc It was a sunny, beautiful afternoon, and he was expla a reporte he Must ly b on campus. of his culture was the planet than ry F : downi he gallons ," he told me, show’ me the traditional gourd and metal imbibe the drink. This Cultivating Change Cc GUAYAKI 21 YEARS LATER culprit, and there were hat set out to bring a produc arket that no wer the opulation, k for them ring their cultuge ss SPRING // SUMMER 2018“That's my whole mission.” he said “That's what I'd like to do with my food science degree.” Pryor, then 25, was hocking yerba mate to students and sill businesses in SLO as his part of his senior project, but in the two decades that followed, he and his four partners, who hooked up a few smonths after our interview and started the business in eamest, have created a global phenomenon using Pryor's visionary ‘model of fair trade, sustainable agriculture and Earth-friendly practices to create Guayaki Yerba Mate “Other than the scale of things, nothing ‘has changed that much, witha respect to the purpose,” said Pryor from his home in Argentina. “We have been totally aligned {from the beginning with’the purpose of working together with communities that live in the remnants of the forest.” We spoke via Skype, as Pryor oversees sourcing of the South American yerba ‘mate supply, which is cultivated from forested areas of Brazil, Paraguay and ‘Argentina. The company itself is headquartered in Sebastopol, Calif,, and is still run by the five friends from San Luis Obispo: Pryor and his partners David Karr (Business Administration '96), Michael “Miguel” Newton (Business Administration '97), Steven Karr and Chris Mann. They call themselves the Semillas, which translates to “seeds.” Together, the Semillas have carried tive business from its humble beginnings to its solid footing in the beverage industry. 1n 2005, the company introduced glass bottles and expanded their distribution nationwide, bringing Guayakt into the ‘mainstream. The company moved from San Luis Obispo to Sebastopol and hired ‘more people, including a former president of marketing for Coca-Cola, A moment came, Pryor said, when they had to think about moving away from the {grassroots contact they had with people and focus on larger accounts. But Pryor and the Semillas held firm. “That moment was a tough moment, but we decided to stay true to our vision of building healthy communities and growing, slower and sticking around longer,” he ‘says. “We are 21 years feels like we're just getting started.” and it always Despite that relative small size and slow growth, the company is making an impact beyond just its customers. Pryor believes that his company’s business model can help regenerate healthy economies and ‘ecosystems in the communities where it sources its ingredients, In addition to the company’s 150 formal employees, Guayaki works to cultivate yerba mate in partnership with six communities of more than 350 families ‘spread out across 130,000 acres in South America. Tem years ago, Guyaki developed 2 goal to increase its reach to 1,000 families by 2020. Pryor said they are on track to ‘meet that goal Pryor wants to be the benchmark for other companies as they set their own sustainable practices. He is calling on the food industry to develop business models to truly change the way industry works —to enhance communities rather than pillage them. “We want to inspire at least 1,000 other companies to work like us, and the impact will be a lot bigger.” « Alumni Class Notes @ ‘Tho fve “Semilas” seed that ran Gaya. rom lof: Michael Neweon Guxinane Adminiataton "7, Alex rer (Food Science Os), Chr Mar, Bald Kerr (Business Administion 9) ane Steven Kar ebshs atce th fer prose writen about Gusysl Yerba Mate appeared Inthe Marta Daly in 1996,