Summary
CHALLENGE
- Anatae wanted an affiliate program that matched a premium, carefully curated brand, not a mass open sign-up program.
- It had to be manageable for a small remote team.
SOLUTION
- A closed, invitation-only program on UpPromote where every affiliate is hand-picked against clear criteria.
- A flexible two-tier commission structure that converts flat-fee creators into affiliate partners.
RESULTS
- Affiliate marketing reached around 11% of global sales last year.
- A curated base of more than 250 affiliates.
LESSONS
- For a premium brand, a smaller roster of hand-selected, aligned creators can outperform an open program.
- A higher rate can be cheaper than a flat fee when it keeps the partnership performance-based.
- Top affiliates stay for the relationship, not for escalating commissions.
Anatae is a French matcha brand founded in 2019, sourcing organic green tea directly from partner growers in Nishio, Japan.
Known for award-winning ceremonial matcha and a community of more than 200,000 followers, the brand sells its teas and traditional Japanese accessories online and through retailers across France and Belgium.
Anatae runs fully remote from Bordeaux with a lean team. When they set out to grow affiliate marketing, they didn’t build a big open program. They built a selective one, and put one person in charge of choosing every partner.
What made Anatae switch to UpPromote?
Anatae came to UpPromote after moving over from a previous affiliate tool. The recommendation came from an unexpected place: one of their own affiliates.
I found UpPromote through an affiliate that recommended me. She was using it with another brand.
Lisa Léger, Influencer Relations and Partnerships at Anatae
The team set up the program with help from UpPromote’s support chat, and the onboarding experience stuck with Lisa. Every question she raised got a quick answer, and once everything was live, the program ran smoothly on both her side and the affiliate side. That early support set the tone for how the program would run.
How does Anatae keep its affiliate program so selective?
Anatae doesn’t run an open program. Every affiliate is invited, and Lisa personally reviews and adds each one.
Her selection is criteria-driven. She looks at follower count and engagement, whether a creator’s topics and aesthetic fit the brand, and whether their values align with Anatae’s.
It’s not an open program. It’s only me that puts affiliates on UpPromote, because we have selected them before within different criteria: amount of followers, engagement, topics, their aesthetic, their values.
Lisa Léger, Influencer Relations and Partnerships at Anatae
She sets aside dedicated time to source creators through social channels rather than approving applicants at random. The result is a roster built for fit, not volume, which matters for a premium brand where alignment drives conversions.
How does Anatae structure commissions to fit every partner?
Anatae’s main program pays a 10% commission, and that rate works for most partners. But not every creator wants a commission deal.
Some prefer to be paid directly for content. Rather than turn them away or spend the influencer budget on flat fees, Anatae offers a higher rate to bring them into the affiliate model instead.
Our main program is based on 10% commissions. But sometimes when we approach affiliates, they don’t want affiliation, they want to be paid directly. So we say, okay, let’s do 15% instead of 10.
Lisa Léger, Influencer Relations and Partnerships at Anatae
That flexibility keeps more partnerships performance-based and keeps spending predictable. It is a small structural choice that lets Anatae say yes to more creators without losing control of costs.
How does Anatae keep its top affiliates loyal?
A handful of affiliates drive an outsized share of Anatae’s referrals, and they perform month after month. What keeps them engaged isn’t a bigger payout. It is the relationship.
We have a really great relationship with them.
Lisa Léger, Influencer Relations and Partnerships at Anatae
Anatae’s best partners are long-term collaborators who don’t push for higher commissions. For a curated program, that stability is worth as much as any single campaign.
What results has Anatae seen with UpPromote?
The clearest measure of the program’s value is its share of the business. Last year, affiliate marketing accounted for around 11% of Anatae’s global sales.
Last year, affiliation was eleven percent of the global sales.
Lisa Léger, Influencer Relations and Partnerships at Anatae
That result came from a curated base of more than 250 affiliates. Not a mass program, but a hand-selected one. It also held up through a period when Anatae raised prices to protect margins against rising matcha costs in Japan, which softened overall sales slightly.
For a small remote team, reaching a double-digit share of global sales through affiliates, while staying selective, is a strong return on a program run largely by one person.
What’s next for Anatae?
Anatae is building on the program in three directions.
The team is setting up a third program focused on SEO-based affiliates, aimed at partners who can drive organic search traffic.
They are also weighing a new-customer commission structure, a higher rate for sales from first-time buyers, to shift more affiliate effort toward acquisition rather than repeat purchases.
On the operational side, smoother local bank-transfer payouts for European affiliates sit at the top of their wishlist as the program scales.
