The chakra: a farm that looks like a forest
Guayusa does not grow in rows. In the Ecuadorian Amazon it thrives in chakras — traditional agroforestry plots where Kichwa families cultivate guayusa alongside cacao, fruit trees, timber species and medicinal plants. The result looks less like a farm and more like a managed forest: biodiverse, shaded and alive.
This system protects the rainforest instead of clearing it. Native species are replanted, soils stay healthy, and families harvest multiple crops throughout the year — with guayusa providing steady, fair income.
Hand-picked, only the mature leaves
Harvesting is selective and entirely manual. Only mature leaves are picked, leaving the tree healthy and productive for decades — some guayusa trees in producing communities are older than their caretakers.
The 48-hour window
Freshness defines quality. Within 48 hours of harvest, leaves travel from the chakra to our GMP processing plant in Tena, where they are washed, dried on standardized curves and milled to specification. This speed locks in the leaf’s green color, smooth taste and active compounds — no aging, no smoking, no shortcuts.
From there, the same leaf that was growing in the Amazon days earlier ships to more than 20 markets around the world — as loose leaf, tea bags, powder or extract.