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Photo: Rodrigo Duarte

Entrepreneurs from the Cumbaru Parcerias, Ekilibre Amazônia, Manawara, Mazô Maná and Simbiótica businesses, accelerated in 2023 by AMAZ, participate in the last in-person workshop, which will be held in the first week of August, in Manaus.

The meeting has two main focuses: scale and business growth and diagnosis of the acceleration journey.

The program focused on the first focus includes roundtables on governance and challenges in leveraging investments in businesses in the Amazon, with the participation of specialists in the themes. Participants will work on planning fundraising rounds, building individual roadmaps, reviewing and refining pitches and collective exchanges. And they will have the opportunity to participate in a pitch day, presenting their business to guests.

The second focus, analysis of the acceleration journey, comes as a diagnosis of what was developed from the development plan outlined with the businesses at the beginning of the journey and preparation for the next phase of the relationship with the accelerator, when these businesses will be monitored by the business team, responsible for monitoring the implementation and following the journey of each one of them while they are part of the portfolio.

“This month of July comes as a validation of everything that has been done on this journey from the business action plan, which was prepared during the selection process, validated with them at the beginning of the acceleration and executed since the month of January. Now, the idea is precisely to have a diagnosis of this acceleration, understanding the value contributed and the impact of AMAZ on these businesses over the last few months and how they evolved from the initial stage until now”, analyzes Gabriela Souza, AMAZ acceleration coordinator.

“And we will also understand how to reconcile this with the needs for growth and scale for the next stage. Thinking both about the next rounds of funding and about movements in relation to productive, operational capacity, strengthening with suppliers or community partners”.

AMAZ's acceleration journey offers a vast menu of activities along the acceleration journey, which includes individual mentoring and advice, collective thematic webinars and also face-to-face meetings, where exchanges and interactions take place at a closer level, with the collective intelligence of the businesses contributing to the evolution of each one individually.

“The face-to-face meetings bring a lot of strength and are of great importance as a space for exchanging experiences and support in building each other. These moments end up inspiring and encouraging entrepreneurs, generating new questions that can often drive changes in business. This last workshop will help them realize what they built with us throughout the acceleration, together, reflecting not only individual development, but also interesting things that emerged and will still emerge from this interaction”, he adds.

Photo: Cumbaru Parcerias

In early July, Cumbaru Parcerias, a business that is part of AMAZ's portfolio, made a technical visit to the Pasto Vivo project, led by Luxor Agro and Meraki Impact. Located in the municipality of Pontes e Lacerda, Mato Grosso, the Pasto Vivo project has been standing out as one of the references in the implementation of regenerative silvopastoral systems nationwide, and Cumbaru was there to get to know the experience of the project up close and strengthen relations with this partner strategic.

At São Benedito Farm, where the Pasto Vivo project is implemented, several production systems are tested, with variations in tree species, spacing between rows in the tree planting rows and spacing between rows. The objective is to identify the arrangements that present the best performance, considering the interaction between trees, pasture and cattle, so that they can later be replicated at scale.

Another interesting feature of the system being implemented by the project is the holistic management of livestock, following the concepts of Savory Institute. Pasture management and animal stocking are carried out in an unconventional way, but show good zootechnical results in line with good biodiversity and carbon indicators, according to the Institute.

“These were days of much learning and exchange of experiences. We were very happy to strengthen this partnership with the Pasto Vivo Project, because in addition to operating in the same state, Mato Grosso, we work with similar production systems, with similar objectives, such as, for example, the production of calves free of deforestation and the production of Brazil nuts. from baru. We certainly have a lot to learn from each other in the coming years.” analyzes Pedro Nogueira, Co-founder and CEO of Cumbaru.

Photos: Mahta Disclosure

In June, during NaturalTech, Mahta, specialized in natural and regenerative foods, launched organic chestnut milk powder, with 100% of Brazil nuts. In addition, the business announced the entry of a new partner: Chef Thiago Castanho from Pará.

Nut milk powder is a regenerative and sustainable alternative to cow's milk, being 100% natural and whole. It does not contain lactose, gluten, sugar, preservatives, flavors or thickeners.

“We are talking about a commitment to health and the environment. Its nutritional profile is impressive, high in vitamins and low in sugars and carbohydrates. In addition, it is rich in unsaturated fats, such as omega-3, which are essential for heart and brain health. By choosing this product, we are supporting a sustainable and regenerative production model, which values biodiversity and contributes to the preservation of the Amazon rainforest and its natural resources”, analyzes Edgard Calfat, founding partner of Mahta.

Max Petrucci, also founder of the business, points out that the company's mission in its trajectory is to support the AFS model (Agroforestry Systems) and strengthen the positive social impact through fair and solid relationships with small extractive communities in the Amazon.

new partner

Mahta now also has a new partner, the chef from Pará Thiago Castanho, known for his role as presenter of the program “Sabores da Floresta” on Canals Globo, in which he presents viewers with the richness of Amazonian cuisine, exploring typical ingredients, such as tucupi, açaí and jambu, in addition to presenting traditional recipes and techniques.

“I am very happy to become a partner of Mahta. We share a common purpose of learning and sharing forest knowledge with Brazil and the world, as we believe that this valuable knowledge can enrich lives, preserve nature and promote awareness of the importance of biodiversity”, said Thiago Castanho, Brazilian-born chef in Belém do Pará, where he grew up amidst the diversity and richness of Amazonian cuisine. 

“The partnership with Thiago Castanho is a milestone for Mahta. Your knowledge, talent and passion for the Amazon inspire us and strengthen our commitment to sustainability and forest preservation. Together, we intend to further explore the richness of Amazonian cuisine and develop products that value biodiversity and local culture”, says Max.

Participation in Natural Tech

Mahta participated in NaturalTech, the largest natural products fair in Latin America, with its own stand. The business had already experienced participation last year, through the stand of the Amazônia program in Casa Floresta em Pé, promoted by AMAZ, Idesam and Climate Ventures to provide access to markets.

Max evaluates this year's experience as very positive, so much so that Mahta should participate in the fair again in 2024:

“Participation this year was very important, mainly to reinforce reputation. And this has a primary impact on sales, in our case through influencers. Usually, fairs like NaturalTech have retail as their main channel. The brands' main objective is to welcome retailers who go there to do research and learn about new products. We received almost 100 polls from this audience. We are not at that moment, but, on the other hand, a similar mechanism happens with influencers. Many that we still didn't know, or that we weren't close to, came to our stand and gave us feedback on the brand and the product. And we sell about R$ 40 thousand worth of products. For all the reasons, the participation was very good.”

Photo: AMAZ Disclosure

AMAZ and two of its portfolio businesses – Mazô Maná and Simbiótica Finance – held a workshop in May in Altamira, Pará, addressing Payments for Social and Environmental Services (PSSA).

Two fronts were the focus of this meeting: the beginning of an articulation to build a methodology for PSSA not limited to carbon, but taking into account the full protection of the territory by indigenous peoples, riverside people and quilombolas; and Mazô Maná's strategy in relation to community suppliers, especially focused on the Terra do Meio Canteen Network, based on fair trade with additional payments based on the appreciation of the community's way of life.

Mazô Maná's business modeling was the catalyst for the workshop, which also brought together other partners such as iCS (Instituto Clima e Sociedade), SBSA (Szazi, Bechara, Storto, Reicher e Figueiredo Lopes Advogados) and Idesam (Instituto de Conservação and Sustainable Development of the Amazon).

The group visited the headquarters of Mazô Maná and participated in an expedition, organized in partnership with Mazô Maná, which included a visit to the business headquarters in Altamira, and also to one of the partner communities of Resex Rio Iriri. Some of the ingredients in Mazô Maná's first product, which will be launched soon, come from the region, and the expedition's participants were able to taste the product firsthand.

“We talked about new PSSA models, which can generate an important increase in income for forest communities, associated with the sale of ingredients. As we see in the Amazon deforestation maps, it is clear that where there are forest peoples, there are standing forests. This is largely due to the way of life of these populations, which results in important services to society such as monitoring forest invasions, conservation of biodiversity, among others”, highlights Marcelo Salazar, CEO of Mazô Maná.

The intention is to develop a methodology that is replicable: “The idea is that what is being built is also adaptable to other regions of the Amazon. This will require inserting new actors into this discussion. We are taking the first step of something bigger here. Mazô Maná is with us as a catalyst for a methodology that will need the involvement of other organizations to be made viable”, assesses Gabriela Souza, AMAZ acceleration coordinator.

Victoria Bastos, coordinator of Idesam's Climate Change and Environmental Services Program, points out that what is thought for this PSSA methodology has similarities with the concept of fair trade, present in the supply chain market, but goes beyond what would be a PSSA fully linked to the product that suppliers deliver.

“It is a larger strategy, which does not only involve suppliers and the commercial relationship, but involves the entire Resex. Of being able to have an additional resource to what they already get through the Cantinas Network with the sale and preparation of products, which can guarantee the long-term sustainability of these organizations. And the format could be a PSSA that is not limited to carbon, but that can consider other resources and environmental services of the Reserve, conserved by the way of life of those who live there. Prove that this is related to forest conservation.”

Rafaela Romano, co-founder of Simbiótica Finance, points out that the group made the exercise, based on existing models of relationships with communities, to highlight which parameters need to be improved and which should not be repeated.

“Some of the points raised are the viability of a PSSA system for small communities, a model in which the money for carrying out the process is not greater than the money destined for the communities; and the complexity of creating a model whose understanding is feasible both for those who already deal with the carbon market and for the communities. We talked a lot about the possibility of having, as an indicator of an environmental service to be paid, the very management of the territory based on being in the forest. Walking/navigating through the forest as responsible for territorial management and conservation. We have this virtuous cycle of conservation related to existence”, he evaluates.

Aline Souza, from the SBSA law firm, which advises AMAZ and its portfolio businesses, highlights the power of the accelerator's work in connecting entrepreneurs and relevant people in the socio-environmental impact ecosystem.

“In legal terms, it is an opportunity in the current regulatory agenda to propose market solutions for valuing the traditional way of life, of those who live in the forest, and how this connects with economic production. We still live in a scenario of very basic regulation in relation to the carbon market, which brings an opportunity for market agents who want to bring innovation and are committed to this generation of positive socio-environmental impact.”

She considers that well-consolidated experiences, creating good success stories, can inspire the creation of public policies in the future, at a time when Brazil is once again being closely observed in relation to investments and actions for the protection of the Amazon.

SBSA is at the forefront of a project to define guidelines and recommendations for fair contracts between communities and companies in the Amazon, which has several organizations on its advisory board, including Idesam. Aline points out that the methodology is anchored in three principles: it's only fair if you can understand it; it is only fair if it reduces asymmetries; and it's only fair if it improves people's lives.

“Following this methodology of fair contracts, we believe that it is possible to contribute to a new level of negotiation with communities, valuing their protagonism, their traditional way of life and the positive socio-environmental impact at the same time that we positively generate solutions financial resources for the people involved”, he adds.

Photo: Rodrigo Duarte/AMAZ

From the 14th to the 17th of June, businesses from the AMAZ portfolio will participate in the Natural Tech, the largest natural products fair in Latin America.

Na'kau, which produces chocolates with cocoa native to the Amazon, and Mahta, which produces superfoods with ingredients from the Amazon, will have their own stands during the fair.

Mahta, in addition to its well-known powdered superfood product, has news and the launch of a new product on the market. 

Soul Brazil, manawara, maniac and amazonique, also part of the accelerator's portfolio, will be present through the Amazon Program at Casa Floresta em Pé, which will have a point of sale including dozens of brands that are part of the Program.

In 2022, the Program participated for the first time in Natural Tech, promoting Amazonian brands and product launches. 4,627 products were sold, making a total of R$ 137,854.20.

This year, participation takes place with a 25m² stand, bringing the experience of a large Amazonian emporium. The expectation is for the strengthening of the project as a whole and of the brands in the market. 

Created in 2020, the movement Amazon in Casa Floresta in Foot It is coordinated by Idesam (Institute for the Conservation and Sustainable Development of the Amazon), by AMAZ Acceladora de Impacto and by Climate Ventures, and its purpose is to unlock market access for producers of Amazonian sociobiodiversity.

Its supporters are Mercado Livre, the largest e-commerce platform in Latin America, Fundo Vale, GIZ, CLUA, Instituto humanize and Instituto Clima e Sociedade.

Photo: Pedro Nogueira/Cumbaru

Sítio Conquista, in Alta Floresta, Mato Grosso, is Cumbaru's first partner property in the implementation of regenerative agrosilvipastoral systems. 

The activities are being carried out in an area of 20 hectares, and so far there is already milk production, transfer of embryos formed in the laboratory for the production of deforestation-free beef calves and preparation of silage to complement the feeding of cattle during the dry season. . 

“This first partnership, with Mr. Gilmar, represents a lot for Cumbaru. We are now, in fact, at the beginning of the process to produce food and other products with low carbon emissions and free of deforestation in the Amazon. All of this makes it possible for family farmers to have access to financial resources and technical knowledge to implement good agricultural practices, one of the main pain points of this group”, analyzes Pedro Nogueira, Co-founder and CEO of Cumbaru.

Through Cumbaru's rural partnerships, milk, zero-deforestation beef calves, bananas, wood, non-timber forest products such as baru, and forest carbon will be produced. The forestry and agricultural component of the agrosilvopastoral system will be implemented as of the 2023/2024 harvest.

Photo: Disclosure COEX Carajás

COEX Carajás (Cooperative of Extractivists from the Carajás Flona), accelerated in 2020, concluded this year the payment of the installments of the funding raised and now leaves the portfolio of AMAZ impact accelerator. Around R$ 400 thousand were invested in the cooperative by AMAZ and other financiers. 

The cooperative works with the extraction and commercialization of the jaborandi leaf, from which medicines for glaucoma and cancer are produced, and also with seeds of species used for reforestation, extracted from the Carajás National Forest (Flona de Carajás). 

Of the entire acceleration and financing process, the first of its kind in which the cooperative participated, Ana Paula Nascimento, president of COEX, highlights negotiation power as the main legacy: 

“We have better negotiating power. We used this resource and the investments we made to tell companies that we deserve more. The investments we made in the structure of the cooperative, in logistics, to offer a product with quality, more valued and at a better price, contributed a lot to improve negotiations with buyers. The last two years have been the best in jaborandi trading since the beginning of our cooperative. It made a lot of difference.”

The funding resource helped with the purchase of a pickup truck to transport Flona de Carajás products to the storage shed, renovation of the shed and purchase of its own headquarters in the center of the city where it is located, Parauapebas, in Pará. 

Other points raised by Ana that are worth mentioning are the training of cooperative members, the purchase of GPS equipment to ensure traceability and the conditions for mapping the matrices by purchasing companies, a collection of books on Brazilian trees to facilitate the identification of species in the collection of seeds and dissemination of the work of the cooperative by AMAZ itself.

“The cooperative's ability to participate in this type of acceleration process also came from the AMAZ Call, our first. And our organizational capacity has improved a lot. We managed to maintain ourselves during the covid-19 pandemic, with a lot of adaptation and guaranteeing the income of the cooperative members.”

During this time, the cooperative not only remained active, but also expanded the sale of seeds, making deliveries in cities in Pará and in other states such as São Paulo, Tocantins and the Federal District. 

“The success of COEX proves the potential of cooperatives as impact businesses in the Amazon. The development of the cooperative in the time that we were able to support it was exponential, and it taught us a lot while we tested an investment instrument, which was the loan. We wish COEX success in its next steps, that it continues to grow a lot as a business and can expand its operations beyond the Carajás Flona”, says Mariano Cenamo, CEO of AMAZ and new business director of Idesam.

Photo: Arlindo Filho/Soul Brazil

THE Soul Brasil Cuisine, a business that integrates AMAZ's impact accelerator portfolio and promotes the appreciation of ingredients from the Amazon and other biomes in gastronomic products such as pepper sauces with fruits, vinegars and jams, has been standing out on international radars.

Today, Letícia and Peter Feddersen's company exports products to the USA, the Caribbean, France, Singapore, Malaysia and Thailand. It is still negotiating with Japan, Taiwan and Paraguay.

Recently, it was visited by a delegation of buyers from six important chains in Latin America - from Colombia, Peru, Uruguay, Costa Rica and Bolivia -, who were in São Paulo, where Soul Brasil is headquartered, participating in an APAS event (Paulista Association of Supermarkets).

“For us, this is recognition that we are on the right path, and that our products contribute to promoting Brazil through its flavors”, analyzes Letícia Feddersen.

“We started Soul Brasil, Peter and I, motivated by the lack of products that could translate the diversity of flavors of Brazilian cuisine in other countries. And today, as a small company, we are managing to move in this direction, spreading Brazilianness in the kitchen, in the country and in the world.”

In Brazil, the company also has clients such as the gastronomic emporiums Casa Santa Luzia and Quitanda, the Ronco do Bugio inn and the restaurants Capim Santo, Selvagem and Vista Jardins.

In addition to its own product lines, Soul Brasil also works with development for major brands, such as Dengo – for which it created a cocoa jelly – and makes co-creations, such as the mango and assîsî pepper chutney, with chef Carla Pernambuco, and the organic pineapple, ginger and lemongrass jam, with chef Morena Leite.

Among the ingredients used by the company in its products are assîsî pepper, baniwa pepper, açaí, guarana, cumuru, cocoa, cupuaçu and tropical fruits.

Soul Brasil has organic certification for sale in Brazil and other specific certifications for export to Europe and the USA. And it also has the Origens Brasil seal, which attests to fair trade with the communities.

New visual identity and new products in 2023

With the House Rex, Soul Brasil gained a new visual identity, which better reflects the diversity and richness of the Brazilian food universe that it intends to spread around the world.

From the change in the distribution of visual elements to the choice of colors and greater organicity in the labels, the packages now bring even more information, such as suggested use.

The new company logo also brings diversity in the typology chosen by Casa Rex.

And the change comes with the launch of new products, such as banana and açaí jellies, banana and cocoa, mango and tonka bean, açaí and vinegar sauces, cupuaçu and vinegar, in addition to a series of pepper sauces.

“Soul Brasil's plans include increasingly consolidating itself in chains and gastronomic emporiums in Rio and São Paulo, in hotels and partnerships with other major brands, with the objective of reaching our break even this year. And at the same time we continue to open international markets and at the same time open international markets with partnerships that leverage the business. Always taking sustainability, the flavors, aiming at the positive impact on the communities”, analyzes Letícia.

Company presents Amazonian flavors in vegan jelly beans, cookies and nuts

THE manawara, a business specializing in the production of food from ingredients from the Amazon, opens its first point of sale in São Paulo on May 6th. O holy market, in the south zone of the capital, is the place chosen to introduce São Paulo residents to the flavors and colors of the Amazon.

Initially, 22 product options will be offered, including fruit candies of different flavors, nuts and cookies. Foods such as açaí, guarana, taperebá and cupuaçu are present in jujubes and other vegan products, without gluten or lactose.

In its production chain, the company seeks to value producers from the Amazon region. The guarana used comes from Maués, the nut comes from Assoab (Association of Farmers of Beruri), which operates in Resex Mamirauá. The flour in the cookies comes from Iranduba, the honey from Boa Vista do Ramos, the coconut flour from producers in Acre.

The business already sells its products in stores in some parts of Brazil and through e-commerce, and 70% of its customers are in São Paulo.

“Our intention is to promote an immersion in the world of colors and flavors of the Amazon. That everyone has the possibility of imagining their Amazon through the products we offer. Inside each bullet, in each box, there is a lot of care for nature and the people who live in the forest”, points out Mércio Sena, CEO of Manawara.

expanding markets

A member of the impact accelerator AMAZ portfolio, Manawara has invested in the development of products and packaging over the past six years.

The effort has been awarded with important recognitions. The company has participated in the largest food and beverage fairs in the world and Europe – Anuga and Sial. For Sial, it won the Seal of Innovation in 2020. And it was also awarded by the Brazil Design Awards with the packaging developed for fruit candies, also in 2020.

Manawara is in the final stages of shipping the first container of products to the US. Its products have also aroused interest in the Chinese market: JD, an e-commerce giant, the China Department of Commerce and a supermarket chain in Beijing with a foreign clientele have shown interest in opening negotiations.

In addition, the company closed a deal with the JHSF Fasano group, which will make the company's fruit candies available in hotel rooms in São Paulo and Rio de Janeiro.

From 02/28 to 03/02, the first in-person workshop of the 2023 acceleration journey will take place in Manaus. Entrepreneurs from the five businesses selected for acceleration and investment – Cumbaru, Ekilibre, Impacta Finance, Manawara and Mazô Maná – will gather to review your C Models and Theories of Change and advance the impact matrix, indicators and monitoring.

During the meeting, communication will also be worked on based on the tools mentioned above, construction of narratives and use of data, also suitable for audiences and channels of interest to the business. 

“The first workshop of the 2023 acceleration journey aims to resume the work started in the selection stage, refining the thesis and impact model of the invested businesses based on what we have been working on in recent months. With the construction of an individualized action plan and connecting demands common to the enterprises, face-to-face meetings are essential to co-construct and deepen collective themes, but which require a look at the specificities of each business model", analyzes Gabriela Souza, analyst of AMAZ investments.

The journey began in January, with the holding of the first webinar aimed at connecting businesses and presenting the proposal for the acceleration journey, which will feature individual and collective moments with the aim of helping businesses to develop and improve their needs . 

Follow the unfolding of the workshop on the AMAZ networks.