Materva
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 Can and glass of Materva, showing the color of the drink | |
| Product type | Soft drink |
|---|---|
| Owner | Cawy Bottling Co. |
| Country | Cuba |
| Introduced | United States, Canada, Spain |
| Previous owners | 1920 – Materva Soft Drink Company |
| Website | cawy |
Materva is a mate-based soft drink, originally produced and popularized in Cuba prior to the Cuban Revolution. It has been produced in Miami since the 1960s by Cawy Bottling Company.
Materva is a carbonated drink made from yerba mate, a tea popular in Uruguay, Chile, Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, and Paraguay. Unlike the somewhat bitter tea-like mate on which it is based, Materva is sweet, with a flavor described as similar to ginger ale[1] or cream soda.[2]
Current production includes a diet version called Diet Materva.[3]
History
The Materva Soft Drink Company was founded in Matanzas, Cuba, in 1920. Materva became known as a "famous Cuban brand"[4] and advertising included celebrity endorsements that touted the drink's energizing properties.[5][6]
During the Cuban Revolution, the Materva bottling plant was targeted for strikes by revolutionaries, along with the Coca-Cola and Pepsi bottling plants in the country.[7] Materva was produced and sold in Cuba until 1960 when it was nationalized along with other private industry. It is no longer produced in Cuba.[8]
The Cawy Bottling Company of Miami was founded to produce the Cawy lemon-lime soda that had been popular in Cuba. The company began producing Materva in the United States in the 1960s in an attempt to diversify after the founder of the company realized that there were many large American companies already competing with lemon-lime drinks.[9][10]
