Yaupon isn’t imported from abroad, so it results in a smaller carbon footprint, less stress on the environment, and real jobs and economic opportunities for American farmers and workers.
Yaupon offers all the benefits of tea, coffee, or Yerba Mate, but its grown right here in America. Yaupon Brothers maintains a partnership with the University of Florida’s Institute of Food & Agricultural Science to help create a new native alternative crop for Florida farmers. This regenerative agriculture model results in less nutrient pollution, reduced water use, and resiliency to natural disasters like droughts, freezes, and hurricanes.
Yaupon's Ecosystem and Contribution
Our regenerative agriculture model focuses on Yaupon Holly as a sustainable native crop. Native plants require fewer inputs, like pesticides, fertilizers, and herbicides. Fewer inputs means less pollution in our soil and in our waterways. Our wild-crop operations harvest Yaupon in sustainable amounts that preserves the health of the trees, and we destroy invasive plant species like the Brazilian Pepper in our wild-crop areas. All Yaupon Brothers growing and processing operations are certified organic.
Yaupon Brothers Involvement
Yaupon has been used as an important food, medicine, and ceremonial item by indigenous people for thousands of years. We want to tell that story in a way that pays respect to native people, and we believe firmly in the native food rematriation movement. Five percent of our online sales are donated directly to NATIFS, (North American Traditional Indigenous Food Systems), and the Indigenous Food Lab founded by Chef Sean Sherman, aka the Sioux Chef. Yaupon Brothers is also distributed by Sweetgrass Trading, which is wholly-owned by the Winnebago Tribe of Nebraska, and through Eufaula Indian Community Distributors in the Mvskoke Nation of Oklahoma.The New Yaupon Factory
Come in and stay a while! In early 2022, Yaupon Brothers opened our new Yaupon manufacturing facility in Edgewater, Florida complete with a retail space and cafe featuring snacks and treats from local partners. Plan on relaxing on our patio with a cup of our Yaupon tea or tour the factory to learn how our Yaupon tea is made!
Next Steps
Yaupon Brothers propagate our own Yaupon trees and through our growing farm program, we work with independent and socially disadvantaged farmers across the Southeastern United States to grow the trees. Often, we give farmers the trees we propagate and then purchase their Yaupon leaf harvest for use in our Yaupon tea.Our growing and processing operations are both certified organic. We’ve put more than 80,000 trees in the ground on ten tea farms, with 500,000 more planned over the next year. Yaupon provides equal or greater per-acre economics than more conventional crops like cotton, peanuts, soybeans, pecans, citrus and many others. Yaupon is productive for as long as 100 years. It stabilizes the soil, prevents erosion, and creates beneficial habitat for wildlife, while also creating economic opportunities.