Matt Anttila

Founder and President of Cabana Cachaça

Matti Anttila, a spirits entrepreneur from Montecito, CA, launched the super-premium double distilled Cabana Cachaça, in 2006.

Matti graduated from Amherst College in 2001 and shortly thereafter, began working as an investment banker at J.P. Morgan in New York. While at J.P. Morgan, Matti was given the opportunity to travel to Brasil for work, where he was introduced to Cachaça, Brasil’s national spirit and the third-most distilled spirit by volume globally. In March 2005, Matti was inspired by the country and the Cachaça category and masterminded the concept for Cabana. A year later Matti switched careers and launched Cabana in the United States. Matti hoped to create a spirit that would evoke Brasil in the right way – offering U.S. consumers an ultra-premium Cachaça that would stand up to any premium spirit in the U.S. and ultimately global market. 

Born in 1979, Matti learned the skills needed to start his own company by growing up around two very prominent family businesses; his mother’s family created the American Brewing Company in St. Louis, Missouri, which was bought by Anheuser Busch, while his father’s family is in the timber industry in Finland. Matti married his wife, Jennifer, originally from Locust Valley, NY, in 2005 and currently resides in Manhattan, NY. When not traveling to introduce Cabana around the world, Matti and Jennifer enjoy a variety of sports and activities, such as tennis, polo and golf.