It is not new that genuinely Amazonian flavors have delighted chefs and inspired food and beverage recipes.
Recently, the Kiro, producer of a relatively new type of drink in the market (the switchel), but already with great acceptance among the consuming public, developed two new flavors: Apple + Jiquitaia Pepper and Cumaru + Cupuaçu.
Indigenous Jiquitaia pepper is supplied by communities in the Traditional Agricultural System of Rio Negro, indicated by Origins Brazil. Cumaru is provided by maniac, a business that integrates the portfolio of Partners for the Amazon Platform Acceleration and Impact Investment Program. Cupuaçu comes from the south of Bahia, produced on a family farm.
Committed to the production chain and the traceability of ingredients, seeking to enhance the value of the farmer and rescue the relationship between city and countryside, Kiro brought to the country the switchel category, which, although of uncertain origin, was already popular among rural workers Americans since the mid-17th century as a natural isotonic. In Brazil, the product is positioned as an alternative to alcoholic beverages, being sold in bars, restaurants and also on the website.
Amazonian ingredients increasingly valued
“We had the desire to launch new flavors for a while, but due to several challenges that arose along our trajectory, this plan ended up being postponed. We did a lot of testing of recipes, flavors, fruits, seeds, in short, and we ended up deciding on these flavors that we're launching now”, says Leeward Wang, one of Kiro's founding partners. “We take care of the origin of the ingredients, and all the stories they bring give a lot of strength to the product, because they are very precious ingredients. ”
The connection with Amazonian suppliers was made by Amazon Hub, an impact business located in São Paulo that connects small and medium producers in the Amazon with consumers throughout Brazil. Rodrigo Ribeiro, from Kiro's team, made the contact.
“I met Rodrigo a few years ago, when he was working on an initiative to preserve pirarucu with Amazonian oils. We met again this year, at the Galpão Biomas of Instituto Auá. They talked about Cambuci, from the Atlantic Forest, and we started talking about Amazonian raw materials. He took samples of fruits and seeds for testing, and we soon began supporting them in their search for suppliers,” says Kaline Rossi, CEO and co-founder of AmazôniaHub,
AmazôniaHub has been building bridges with several partners for the supply of Amazonian ingredients in São Paulo, Curitiba, and more recently with a German buyer that sells vegetable oils and butters for cosmetic purposes.
Manioca, which supplies Cumaru to Kiro, began its trajectory by supplying chefs in large Brazilian restaurants with Amazonian flavors, and now it is already witnessing the diversification of companies interested in the ingredients from the forest.
“Beverage, candy and vegan products industries, among others, are using our flavors to create wonderful products, which, in addition to flavor, are concerned with strengthening our biodiversity. More recently, we started supplying Kiro, which produces a drink full of personality and which we are proud to have as a partner. And also for Amazonika Mundi, which produces meat plant based and started using Amazonian ingredients”, says Paulo Reis, a partner at Manioca responsible for the commercial.
Photo: Kiro/publicity
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