Acai has become known as an Amazonian superfood in both Brazil and the US. It was Fruta Fruta Co., Ltd. that sparked this boom in Japan. In this 29th installment of the series, we spoke with Makoto Nagasawa (62, Hyogo Prefecture), CEO of Fruta Fruta, a company headquartered right next to the lush forests of central Tokyo. The company acts as the exclusive import and sales agent for fruit ingredients produced by CAMTA (Cooperativa Agrícola Mista de Tomé-Açu.), Brazil's largest Amazonian fruit supplier, and is also a pioneer in agroforestry marketing, directly connecting the Amazon with Japan.
It all started with the “Amazon Pirates”
Nagasawa, known as “Uncle Acai,” was one of the earliest people in Japan to import acai, and is developing a business model that links agroforestry to developed markets through Amazonian fruit.
Agroforestry is a combination of agriculture and forestry, and by planting multiple agricultural products and trees together, a wide variety of agricultural products can be harvested on farms with diverse ecosystems. With the company's corporate philosophy of "living in harmony with nature," the company aims to create a sustainable society in which the economy and the environment coexist and prosper together by turning the blessings of agroforestry into innovative products.
Nagasawa's connection with Brazil began in 1990, when he was working for a food company that manufactured chocolate in Kobe and came to Brazil in search of cupuaçu, a non-cocoa ingredient in chocolate.
After completing a prototype of a delicious cupuaçu chocolate and officially applying for a trademark and patent, he was working on commercializing the product when an NGO campaigning to protect the Amazon forests began to broadly bashing Nagasawa on Brazilian television and in newspapers as a "pirate of biological resources," claiming that "the Japanese have stolen the treasures of the Amazon!"
The unfounded reports became too heated and caused trouble for those involved, so the company withdrew from the cupuaçu business. However, ironically, this incident also became the catalyst that made cupuaçu, which was previously only known in the Amazon region of Brazil, famous throughout the country.
Departing from Belem-Kobe
When he was feeling depressed, he met a member of CAMTA while running around the Amazon in search of cupuaçu, who encouraged him by telling him that agroforestry is indeed valuable. He realized that there was no need to stick to cupuaçu alone, when many other agricultural and forestry crops could be grown there.
When Mr. Nagasawa learned that he was from Kobe, he said to him, "My parents also came over by boat from Kobe. The work in the Amazon is a life-risking job, but if you're serious about it, we can help you." Attracted by the enthusiasm and diligence of the Japanese immigrants in Tomé-açu who were working on agroforestry through trial and error in a harsh environment, he decided to support the development of agroforestry together and in 2002 founded the world's first agroforestry marketing company in Kobe.
The company name, which means “fruit” in Portuguese, is repeated twice to show the abundance of fruit and the diversity of nature. In order to cherish the bond, the logo is engraved with “BELEM-KOBE,” which is a reminder that Japanese immigrants who left Kobe about 90 years ago started agroforestry in the Amazon, and is centered on the parrot “Alara,” which is a symbol of local ties.
In Brazil, “Acai Day” is September 5th, but in Japan it is registered as September 16th, the date the first Japanese immigrants arrived in Belem, and fan events are held there.
Amazon’s carbon footprint displayed on products
There are examples of agroforestry as a sustainable agricultural method around the world, but the Tomé-Açu method (SAFTA = Sistema Agroflorestal de Tomé-Açu) practiced by CAMTA in particular has attracted attention from around the world for planting a variety of fruit tree and timber seedlings and crops in degraded land in the Amazon, enabling continuous harvests from the first year and regenerating the forest. The fruit ingredients are imported directly to Japan and the business started as a juice bar.
It quickly became a hot topic in the media, and a year and a half later the company expanded into Tokyo and began selling ingredients to restaurants, food manufacturers, sports facilities, etc., and in 2006 launched its own products, “Acai Energy®” and “Acai Energy® Dietta.”
“Acai Energy®” is housed in cartocans (small, cylindrical, recyclable paper beverage containers) made from thinned wood, and the containers are made from agricultural ingredients such as acai produced by CAMTA through agroforestry, and the CO2 reduction amount is displayed on the containers, a first in the Japanese beverage industry.
Keep an eye on “Uncle Acai”
Prime Minister Kishida Fumio, who made an official visit to Brazil on May 3, and at a summit meeting with President Lula, launched the Japan-Brazil Green Partnership Initiative (GPI), a joint statement on the environment, climate, sustainable development, and strengthening economic relations between the two countries. The statement also included the Tomé-açu Memorandum of Cooperation on the Sustainable Use of Biodiversity in the Amazon Region in the field of agroforestry in the Amazon region, and decided to promote the exchange of best practices related to the promotion of products and activities based on sustainable biodiversity. With COP30 scheduled to be held in Belém, Pará next year, there is no doubt that all eyes will be on "Uncle Açai."
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Overview of Fruta Fruta |
*This article is reprinted from the Brazil Nippo (May 25, 2024).
© 2024 Tomoko Oura
