He did not want to go to war, he came to the country and found a place in the yerba mate

It was in 1894 and the Austro-Hungarian empire was in full swing on the old continent. Incorporation into the militia was part of the regime's plans and was an obligation for all young Austrians.

The call of Francisco Kraus, a beginner baker, was soon to arrive and he did not want to be part of the military and less willing to go to war. For this reason, with friends, they decided to leave their country and venture into a new direction. A shipwreck and subsequent salvage of another ship bound for South America left him

Buenos Aires

.

Already settled in the city, he met Ulda Spalding, a Brazilian of German origin with whom she married. After a few years, a call from a beautiful clockmaker living in Posadas,

Missions

who told him about the virtues of the region, made him think about his future. With 40 years, he decided to gather all his carpets and start the long journey to the north.

With an already-born son, to whom Francisco José named him, "in honor of the emperor, nostalgic of his distant country", and his wife arrived in the small town of Mártires, a mandatory step for immigrants who were still in the land through the missionary jungle. There they settled.

From family of farmers, Kraus began to cultivate the land. It was difficult to thrive with ten children, but gradually they were integrated into the work. It is his eldest son who decided to start cultivating the first yerba mate plants.

"When he died in 1945, my grandfather took over the tea and mate business," he said.
THE NATION Milton Kraus, fourth generation of the country.

On a 25-hectare farm, Francisco José, with the first plantations, sought to improve with new tea seeds and built yerba mate nurseries. Two of his five children, Juan Ángel and Román, continued with the company, buying more land to expand their production.

At first, they gave a cooperative to dry the leaves. But the huge distances and the complex logistics allowed them to build their own dryer.

"By trial and error, without an electric motor or combustion engine, they put in place the drying system, which was supposed to start the engines, generate energy and move the drying machines," Milton said. , son of Juan Ángel.

He added: "It is my father who has created and set up this system that generates a flow of warm air produced by the indirect heat of a boiler. grbad without smoke. " Sometimes they bought unarmed boat engines to do the dryers: it was a matter of doing something. "

Once the raw material was dried, it was sold in bulk in 40-50 kg bags to local cooperatives or private companies. And it is the latest generation of Kraus that has sought to add value to the business to make it more profitable. The children of Juan Ángel, Gino, Milton and Romina have added their own brand during growth, harvesting and drying.

In 1998, the hour was certified organic infusions. "At that time, the subject was still an innovation, but we were working in this direction, with traditional agriculture and we had only to incorporate some details to adapt the certification system," said the author. Contractor, 45 years old.

Today, with 300 hectares, they export 60% of the production of yerba mate in 18 countries, including the United States, Germany, England, Spain, Spain and Spain. Austria, Chile and Costa Rica. Meanwhile, the majority of tea production remains on the domestic market because logistics is expensive and competition with Asia becomes difficult; only something is exported to Uruguay and Brazil.

"I acted in reverse of my great-grandfather: he came here and I went into the old world looking for importers for our products," concluded Milton proudly.