Photo: Tribu collection
In October, the city of Belém, capital of Pará, hosted the World Bioeconomy Forum, which for the first time was held outside Europe.
The event's agenda was defined along four thematic axes: bioeconomy, global leaders and the financial world, bioproducts around us and a look to the future.
Leaders, specialists and executives from large companies, from Brazil and abroad, were present, involved in the debate on paths for the development of the bioeconomy.
Three fast-paced businesses and part of AMAZ's portfolio participated in the event: Manioca, Peabiru Produtos da Floresta and Da Tribu – which were part of a panel of the Amazon Sociobiodiversity Business Forum, promoted by the Amazon Transformers Business Atelier (ATENTA) with the government do Pará and support from Impacta Mais.
The event, which was part of the World Biodiversity Forum program, promoted six discussion panels, covering the açaí, cocoa, oilseeds, design, handicraft, biocosmetics, pharmaceuticals, gastronomy and fashion chains.
“The Forum has the importance of enabling us to discuss and look specifically at this bioeconomy that is made in the Amazon. Which is different. We are in a country with several social abysses, and the bioeconomy looks at socio-environmental development, not just the environment”, assesses Tainah Fagundes, Da Tribu's creative director.
During the Forum, a fair was also held, bringing together businesses and initiatives in the bioeconomy, in which Da Tribu participated with a stand with fashion accessories and biomaterials. “The fair held was a success, it brought local, national and international recognition, good sales, admiration for the quality of our product and our work. We had good retail sales and articulations for the sale of biomaterials.”
Da Tribu's creative director also highlights the expectation of reverberations from the Forum, as a space for dialogue with the state government and the contacts made during the event.
Knowing new businesses and expectations for more investment
Manioca participated in the fair with its own stand, presenting its Amazonian gastronomy products, and highlights the opportunity to learn about new business in the bioeconomy.
“Participating in the fair was very good because it placed us on the side of projects that we had not yet seen, in other regions of Pará or in the Amazon. New organizations and new products that also inspire us and that somehow help us to do our job, because it increases the chorus, the number of people and companies that are talking about the same topic and help the consumer and the general public to realize the bioeconomy”, assesses Paulo Reis, managing partner of Manioca.
The participation also marked Manioca's return to on-site fairs, practically suspended since the beginning of the pandemic.
Another positive point highlighted by Paulo in relation to the Forum was the position that the state of Pará is taking on the bioeconomy as a development proposal for the region.
“It was great to have received the Forum in our city. Belém and Manaus are symbols of the bioeconomy, because they are the central cities of the Amazon. So it's great that we brought this discussion closer to us. We have the expectation that the issue will start to boil more, that the state will start looking more at this issue, with greater possibility of support. All of a sudden we're going to have more fairs, forums, discussions, and by drawing more attention to that, naturally our own work will also attract more looks.”
Mariana Faro, communication coordinator at Peabiru Produtos da Floresta, highlights her participation in the Forum's fair as significant for the company and its purpose of connecting the production of traditional Amazonian peoples and communities with consumers who seek to support forest conservation and have in high quality home products. “In three intense days, we found partners, made connections and presented to new audiences the products and processes that make value chains based on socio-biodiversity possible. The holding of the event in Belém, this being the first time outside Europe, brings us the opportunity, through the products and their stories, to dialogue about the centrality of the Amazon and the ways of knowing and doing of local populations to the theme of bioeconomy .”
De Mendes is recognized as startup of the year by the World Bioeconomy Forum
Chocolates De Mendes won the “Startup of the Year” award at the World Bioeconomy Forum. The event's Advisory Committee took into account the company's impact on the circular bioeconomy and climate change.
Chocolates De Mendes works with traditional populations in the Amazon, in tune with their values. They are partners and suppliers of native cocoa and cupuaçu beans, used in the manufacture of chocolates and cupulates.
“It is this wealth of culture, ancestral knowledge and history that our bars carry and want to tell. De Mendes has a yearning and a sense of urgency to contribute to people's quality of life, the preservation of the culture and identity of the peoples that live in the Amazon, as well as to keep the forest standing, crucial for the climate balance of the region. our planet”, says chocolatier César De Mendes.
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