Two local entrepreneurs are heading full-force into a niche sector of the beverage industry -- yerba mate -- but on two different paths.

Nate Winkler and Santiago Casanueva, former business partners who helped introduce Central Oregon to the South American drink, founded Santiago Mate Co. in 2005 in Redmond. Since then, the two have parted ways, but each is continuing to venture deeper into the business of mate (pronounced MA'-tay).