"That story moved us": in an Italian town they have been drinking mate for 100 years and an Argentine company saw a unique opportunity

Lungro, the "European capital" of mate, managed to have its own yerba. The town, located in northern Calabria, has around 2,500 inhabitants and will celebrate the 11th Mateando festival between July 29 and August 1. Anna Stratigò was the driving force behind it all, who now celebrates the Missions yerba specially designed for the place (which arrived this week) by the Argentine family company Molinos Unidos, which is also working to expand mate culture worldwide. A few weeks ago, at the Chamber of Deputies in Rome, on the occasion of the festival's presentation, the company also debuted its new "Lungro" yerba. "It's an enormous joy, a tribute to the perseverance of these people who have been drinking mate in this small Italian town of Albanian origin for over a century," Stratigò tells LA NACION. "In 2012 I wrote the song about mate, two years later I met Pope Francis and 'Mateando' was born. Everything has been growing since then, people come from everywhere to the festival, they try it..."

Lungro, the "European capital" of mate, managed to have its own yerba. The town, located in northern Calabria, has around 2,500 inhabitants and will celebrate the 11th Mateando festival between July 29 and August 1. Anna Stratigò was the driving force behind everything, who now celebrates the Missions-specific yerba specially designed for the location (which arrived this week) by the Argentine family company Molinos Unidos, which is also working to expand mate culture worldwide. A few weeks ago, at the Chamber of Deputies in Rome, on the occasion of the festival's presentation, the company also debuted its new "Lungro" yerba. "It's an enormous joy, a tribute to the perseverance of these people who have been drinking mate for over a century in this small Italian town of Albanian origin," Stratigò tells LA NACION. "In 2012 I wrote a song about mate, two years later I met Pope Francis and 'Mateando' was born. Everything has been growing since then, people come from everywhere to the ...