Consume Sambazon- Save the Amazon

A grove of Acai palms

Harvested berries @ Sambazon

Product Offering- Sambazon

If you are into power foods/health food and frequent the organic isle at the grocery store, you would have heard of Sambazon.
In Nov 2006, the Award for Corporate Excellence (ACE) was awarded to Sambazon for their efforts to promote sustainable development in the Brazilian Rain forest, while improving the conditions of indigenous people through creative marketing of the Açaí (pronounced as (ah-sigh-EE)) fruit. They were also recognized by the Ashoka Organization with the Global Social Entrepreneurship award for market driven strategies that benefit low income communities.

The company was started in 2000 by two Californian entrepreneurs Ryan Black and Ed Nicholas who loved the taste of the berries while in Brazil. Securing exclusive U.S. distribution with the main Açaí processing factories in Brazil in exchange for a percentage of profits dedicated to rain-forest protection, they have expanded the company over the past six years. They became the first company to import certified Organic Acai into the USA & are the only Acai importer that is certified Free Trade. In Oct 2006 they opened the world's largest proprietary Açaí manufacturing facility in Brazil to increase volume of imports.

This makes Sambazon a vertically integrated supplier of Açaí products, controlling every step of the manufacturing process to ensure sustainable and organic origin of the fruit as well as the quality, nutrition and taste. Said Ryan Black the firm’s founder & CEO “Our new factory is a key milestone on our mission to produce the highest quality raw material and consumer goods that promote sustainable management of the Brazilian Amazon- which is what our company stands for with the acronym SAMBAZON.”

In a country where deforestation is rampant, due to excessive logging in the Amazon and millions live below the poverty line, business opportunities based on sustainable agro-forestry are hard to come by. The Açaí palm tree, native and endemic to the Amazon bears a dark purple fruit the size of a blueberry. It naturally covers an area larger than 2.5 million acres & grows in the Amazon River Estuary abundantly. Local growers, better known as ribeirinhos (river people), depend on the Açaí both for subsistence and income generation. In a study of three traditional Caboclo populations in the Amazon region of Brazil, açaí palm was described as the populations' most important plant species because the fruit makes up such a major component of their diet (up to 42% of the total food intake by weight), and is additionally economically valuable in the region (Murrieta et al., 1999).

The fruit is rich in antioxidants ( twice that of blueberries), essential omega fats (Omega 3, 6 &9), anthocyanins (10 times more than in red wine), fiber (44.2g per 100gm of berry), protein (8.1gm per 100gm) & plant sterols and is in growing demand due to the fruit's unique health benefits , as well as a more adventurous consumer palate, which increasingly seeks new, ‘exotic' flavors and ingredients.

The increased demand has offered an opportunity to change the socioeconomic situation of the people that live along the riverbanks of the Estuary, and is an attractive alternative to unsustainable economic activities that dominate regional land use such as logging, cattle ranching and soya processing.

To mitigate potential environmental threats from over cultivation of the berry due to the demand, the Peabiru Institute in partnership with Sambazon Inc. designed the Sustainable Açaí Project which includes a team of leading research institutions, such as the Goeldi Museum, Amapa and Para State Federal Universities and other local contributing NGOs.

The project aims to prove that sustainable agro-forestry in the Amazon estuary can improve living conditions, enhance educational opportunities and promote forest conservation. The Project consists of three phases:

1) Creating specific Biosocial Indicators to evaluate impact of Açaí trade on the local region through standard metrics

2) Developing and implementing Sustainable Agro-Forestry Management out-reach programs to positively impact the threats and opportunities of Açaí cultivation; and

3) Building an Açaí Technical Center aimed to develop and disseminate economically feasible technologies to recycle Açaí by-products.

The whole project is centered on Institutional Building to create a consistent and replicable model. They hope to use it throughout the entire region to create positive socioeconomic change and promote rainforest conservation and biodiversity.

Though there is no one solution to protecting the Amazon rainforest, initiatives like these that offer sustainable development along with economic alternatives can help keep the forest green longer. Sambazon is one viable solution of how you, the locals and the Rainforest can reap the benefits of a truly magical fruit while protecting and enhancing the future for all, say the founders…. I can’t have said it better. I applaud their efforts... because their sustainable model is working... for now.

Food companies need to follow their example and work towards sustainable agriculture, especially the ones that are into commodities processing (Cargill, you listening?) along with a mission to become free trade certified…. What? Can’t I at least hope?

Murrieta, R. S. S., Dufour, D. L. and Siqueira, A. D. 1999. Food consumption and subsistence in three Caboclo populatons on Marajo Island, Amazonia, Brazil. Human ecology 27: 455-475.