Carnival in Minas Gerais has gained popularity in recent years and the state government expects a 10% increase in the number of revelers in 2025. In the capital, Belo Horizonte, the expectation is 6 million people, calculates the city. The manufacturers of the Mate Check drink followed this growth closely, because the party was an important impetus for the business, created by a pair of college students from the Federal University of Minas Gerais (UFMG).
About to turn ten, the canned mixture of rum, mate, guarana and lemon is already hit in other carnivals throughout Brazil and even sponsors blocks. Check Mate Drinks is also attentive to the movements of competitors in the drink of drinks ready to drink and does not intend to stand still.
The company has supplied the Brazilian market with 6 million cans of check mate for the entire carnival period this year, including pre-carnival, the carnival itself and even the post.
It is 1 million cans more than the same period last year and a jump six times compared to 2023. That year, many cities hosted Carnival for the first time after the pandemic and the drink began to gain more popularity outside Minas Gerais revelry, especially in São Paulo-where volumes today are already very similar to BH, according to Alex Freire, one of the founding partner of Check Mate Drinks.
“The bulk is in BH, Sao Paulo and Rio de Janeiro. […] The challenge is to close the whole of Brazil with distribution, ”he told Infomoney. The businessman says that the street vendor is still very important for the strategy of the check mate for “selling what the public wants to buy” and, after all, regardless of sponsorship, Carnival is a street party.
Sponsorship of street blocks
For the second year in a row, the company is sponsoring street blocks. From a list of more than 100 entries in the announcement opened by Check Mate Drinks, five were chosen, three in Belo Horizonte, one in São Paulo and one in Rio de Janeiro. “We sponsor those who have the most engagement,” explains Freire. Each sponsored block received R $ 15,000 from Xeque Mate, as well as marketing support material.
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The company also took advantage of the occasion of Carnival to launch a collab fashion with Baw Clothing, a brand that belongs to Azzas 2154, holding formed the fusion between Arezzo & Co and Soma Group. The name of the drink prints pieces from the street rhythm collection, with items that can cost almost a thousand reais – and many are already sold out on the BAW website.
Last year, Xeque Mate Bebidas made a partnership similar to Coco Leve, a São Paulo company specializing in the production of tasteful ice.
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Harassment of giants, competition from minors
Consulting Nielsen estimates that the category ready to drink It should reach 8% of the alcoholic beverages this year and move around $ 85 billion by 2030 around the world. Of course this account encompasses the movement of multinationals and large breweries that are betting high on the “tin drinks”.
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Check Mate Drinks is a company with about 200 employees and sells, on average, 3 million cans per month. The goal is to close 2025 with 40 million units sold, compared to 25 million of 2024. But the impact of the mixture of mate, rum, guarana and lemon inside and outside the carnival was such that aroused the harassment of giants and competition from minors .
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“We have already received some proposals [de vender o negócio]but this is not our goal. The company is profitable and we want to grow with our own legs. We have to close all Brazil yet, ”says Freire. The company does not reveal financial results.
“Maybe one day trying to close a business in Latin America… but always independently,” adds the businessman, revealing the desire to take the Mate Check out of the country.
Meanwhile, the company also expands its production capacity. Check Mate has a factory in Belo Horizonte that was already operating at the limit of its capacity and has been expanded to internalize 100% of drink manufacturing (less than one third today is its own production). A new manufacturing unit is on the radar, but “it’s a project forward,” explains Freire.
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Portfolio of an asset alone
Even understanding that the Mate Check drink has great growth potential, because it has not yet consolidated throughout Brazil, the manufacturer promises for this year a “new mix” for the portfolio that has only one asset for ten years.
“We wanted a formula that was as cool as Mate Check,” says Freire. “We are performing some tests and almost reaching the finals. Let’s have new release this year yes. ”
O Infomoney It has found that the beverage manufacturer is about to launch a zero alcohol version of Check Mate, accompanying a trend in the beer segment, but still little explored in the part of canned drinks.
Lambe Lambe, Ginger and Cane Xa are drinks that have repeated the trajectory of the Mate Check: they gained fame in the Minas Gerais bohemia, impulse at Belorizontino Carnival and the national projection of social networks.
“There are other brands coming in this segment that no one spoke before. There is room for everyone and we are happy, because we feel that we encourage this movement, ”concludes Freire, without fear of competition.
