Alexis · Fondateur d'YVY Maté
Formerly a steward at the capital's football club, Romain Grunstein was initiated into mate through the Parisian locker room.
He fell in love with the drink and its ritual, and in 2017 decided to offer high-end gourds to his circle through his company Mateador.
His mate gourds went on to win over many professional players.
From Matador to Mateador
Over 4 years inside a major Parisian football club, Romain Grunstein was fascinated by the South American footballers' pre-match ritual. "They'd slip into their bubble preparing their mate - the ritual helped them focus and release the pre-match stress."
One day, curious to discover what lay behind the preparation, he asked the Matador, Cavani, to let him taste it. Startled by the brew at first, he quickly converted and became a complete mate fan. "The first sips are very surprising - mate has a very particular flavor we're not used to in Europe. But the palate acclimatizes quite fast, and after that you can't do without it!"
With the support and encouragement of Cavani, Di María, Lavezzi and others, Romain launched the Mateador adventure.
"A player once told me something that stuck with me - a comparison between coffee and mate. Drinking mate from a poor-quality gourd is like drinking capsule coffee from a plastic cup."
Alongside Cavani and his family, Romain traveled to discover the culture of mate. Through those shared moments, he met the finest artisans - who still work with him today.
Back in France, rich with new friends and sharpened knowledge, Romain threw himself fully into the Mateador adventure and joined our team for a while.
The success of the artisan gourds
An Imperiale mate gourd
It didn't take long for the famous artisan mate gourds to get people talking. The quality, the craftsmanship and their singularity make them true works of art.
Word of mouth quickly seized on Mateador's gourds, and many South Americans soon reached out to him, seeking a piece of typically Latin American culture and craftsmanship here in Europe.
Romain shares a memorable encounter with one of his idols:
"It's crazy - as a kid I was a Riquelme fan for his style of play, which I can see today in Pastore. He and his brother did us the honor of asking me to craft a personalized gourd. I was delighted and deeply honored by the trust they placed in me."
Since then, Mateador has been present in nearly every locker room in Europe, and a multitude of athletes have called on his services. The list is long (too long) to share, so for a glimpse, take a look at the @mateadorofficial account!
So much so that during the 2018 World Cup, no fewer than 18 players from different national teams proudly sported a Mateador gourd - and in the final, both teams were equipped with a magnificent gourd too!
A personalized gourd for Antoine Griezmann
The cherry on top: you can even spot a gourd in the Argentina national team's commercial.
A few months later came the crowning moment: Lionel Messi himself sporting a sumptuous Mateador gourd, personalized with talent by Hza_Custom.
"I'm very happy to have worked on such a project, but I'm even happier for the family in Argentina who made it - for them it's exceptional."
This visibility grew the number of gourd personalization requests. Today the waiting list is long - but who wouldn't wait for these works of art?
Press coverage of Mateador
To learn more about Mateador, you can find several articles in Le Parisien, Konbini, Street Press, Goal and Ouest-France
