Yerba mate is a product that cannot be absent from the Argentine table and its price impacts squarely on the pockets. For this reason, from the Regional Economies sector of the Argentine Confederation of Medium Enterprises (CAME) they revealed that taxes explain 39.3% of the price of a kilo of yerba mate in the gondola, while the primary producer is only responsible 22.4%.
From CAME they indicated that there is an excessive tax burden. Of the total taxes, 78.08% to national taxes and 21.92% to provincial ones. + Also, when analyzing the specific taxes of the value chain, 53.58% corresponds to VAT, 24.50% to Income Tax and 21.92% to Gross Income +, the report explains.
On the other hand, to optimize the analysis, only taxes on the production and commercialization of yerba mate were considered. In this sense, the head of the Regional Economies sector of CAME, Eduardo Rodríguez, assured: + It is clear that food producers are not price makers. The focus should not be on us, but on rethinking the tax scheme, which will benefit both the consumer and the agri-food entrepreneur +.
In January 2021, the average price of a one-kilo package of yerba mate in the Federal Capital was $ 340.7. Of the final value, the producer explains 22.4% ($ 76.6); the sapecado, dried and canchado 7.6% ($ 25.9); milling and packaging 11.1% ($ 37.7), wholesale 10.7% ($ 36.6), retail 8.9% ($ 30.1), and taxes 39.3% ( $ 133.9).
Of the price paid by the consumer in the gondola ($ 340.7), in addition to the amount corresponding to taxes ($ 133.9), 17.8% ($ 60.7) corresponds to net profits and 42.8% ($ 145.8) to costs.
Stages of the chain
NURSERY: It involves the assembly and germination of yerba mate seedlings.
PLANTATION AND HARVEST: Corresponds to the tasks of planting, fertilizing, curing, pruning, thinning and de-budding, as well as harvesting and coarse classification.
DRYING AND CANCHING: The process carried out in this link includes the transfer of the green leaf from the field to the dryer with a (generally) belt system. Once the sheet is dry, it goes to the padding process, which includes a partial destruction of the already dried sheets. This yerba mate canchada is kept in burlap bags that allow this yerba to breathe and have contact with oxygen.
GRINDING, CLASSIFIED AND PACKAGING: Includes the costs of transporting the yerba canchada and packed in bulk to the industrial company’s warehouses, where it spends between 10 and 12 months to acquire the level of quality that the company seeks. After this period of time, it is transferred to grinding, classification and packaging.
WHOLESALER: in charge of storing the packaged yerba mate for sale to retail stores. Its stage begins with the transfer from the packaging machine to the warehouses.
RETAILER: They are the tasks of purchasing and moving from the wholesaler to the establishment of sale, maintenance of the place, general costs.
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