Ten years after its founding, beverage manufacturer Xeque Mate from Minas Gerais reached the best year in its history in 2025. Estimates point to an increase of 26% compared to 2024 production, reaching the mark of 9 million liters produced – the equivalent of more than 19 million 473 ml cans, the best-selling packaging of the product.
“We started the company with our own capital. We grew organically. There was a certain difficulty in serving the market, due to the continental size of Brazil and the tax complexities between states, but this has been regularized over the last two or three years,” said Gabriel Rochael, founding partner and factory director at Xeque Mate.
According to Rochael, in addition to expanding its own industry, outsourcing the packaging of drinks and establishing partnerships with distributors, such as Ambev, were some of the strategic decisions to be able to serve more markets.
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Now, Xeque Mate is present throughout Brazil, but its presence is even greater in the Southeast. And Minas Gerais, which led consumption, was recently overtaken by São Paulo.
Despite the growth, the company does not share revenue estimates and denied the projection of R$200 million shared by some vehicles. “This value does not match reality. We do not have information on how much we will earn this year, but we will not reach that value”, explained Rochael.
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Asked about actions to protect , owner of a unique drink in the country, from possible “inspirations”, Rochael stated that the quality of the products and the sense of community generated by the group play a more important role in this sense than the registration of the patent alone.
“The first thing we did was register the brand and patent for the drink, but, in terms of shielding the product and the production process, we believe in quality. Our mate comes from the best supplier in Brazil, selected, premium, export-type; our guaraná is exclusive; we use lemon extract; we closely follow the entire rum production process. I don’t think everything can be resolved if I have the patent ‘mate, rum, guarana and lemon'(…) There are proportions. There are certain things that are questionable within that”, explained Rochael.
Another strength that protects the brand, according to the founding partner, is the sense of community. Founded in 2015, Xeque Mate Bebidas has been expanding its operations and diversifying within its incubator: the cultural scene of Belo Horizonte. Today, in addition to drinks, it has the Muscate bars, the production company Xeque Mate Estúdios, and the fashion laboratory Lab Xeque Mate.
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The methanol crisis, which began at the end of September and in bars and restaurants, increased demand for Xeque Mate, according to businesspeople who .
Rochael stated that the data did not show an above-normal increase in orders for Xeque Mate, as sales grow naturally from October onwards, when the movement of bars and restaurants increases.
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Even so, it reinforced the power of the product for traders in times of crisis and in everyday life, considering its safety – as it is a drink in an exclusive printed can and, therefore, quite difficult to counterfeit – a more advantageous margin and repeat consumption habit.
“Xeque Mate is a drink, but its consumption behavior is the same as that of beer. Despite stealing a bit of sales from the drink, Xeque Mate has a higher margin at the same time that its consumer has the behavior of beer consumers, of consuming more than one. We deliver a better margin than beer with beer consumption behavior”, he stated.
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Xeque Mate Bebidas announced the arrival of Mascate Drinks, a new line of ready-to-drink alcoholic drinks, with two flavors: watermelon with raspberry, rum, hibiscus and lemon, and passion fruit with cashew, rum and coconut water.
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The products, sold in cans, are already on sale in the three Xeque Mate bars in Belo Horizonte that also bear the name Mascate, and are distributed in bars, supermarkets, emporiums, retail chains and in its own e-commerce starting this Wednesday (12).
According to the company, the initial production of Muscat Drinks will be 1.04 million liters and with the possibility of increasing in January – while that of Xeque Mate will be at least 3.4 million liters until Carnival.
To make the launch of Mascate Drinks viable, the company had to hit the brakes and postpone the production of the drink, originally announced in May 2025. “We tested the non-alcoholic Xeque Mate at a fair in São Paulo and had very good responses, but with the current demand and the need for production and machinery, we preferred to postpone it a little and focus on alcoholic drinks”, said Rochael.
