WHEN PEOPLE THINK OF AUTHENTIC CHEESE, THEY
might think of Italy, which is home to a variety of
cheeses that are popular around the world, from
mozzarella to Parmigiano-Reggiano.
When they think of authentic fine wine, the vine-
yards of Bordeaux in southwest France easily come
to mind.
And when people think of acaí — the small, pur-
ple berry cultivated from South American rainfor-
ests — they should think of Brazil and only Brazil,
which is the superfood’s native country, says Marc
Middleberg, president and chief business devel-
opment officer for Pompano Beach, Fla.-based
Tropical Acaí LLC. His company imports authentic,
organic acaí from its parent company in Brazil for
distribution in the United States.
Tropical Acaí’s motto is “farm to blender.” Its
parent company is located in Belém, a city in
northern Brazil where the Amazon Rainforest
flourishes. It’s in the jungles of Belém where the company cultivates the berries that grow on
Amazonian palm trees and then processes
them into puree and other products at its
state-of-the art manufacturing facility. In the
United States, Tropical Acaí distributes its prod-
ucts to a growing list of foodservice operators
(juice bars, smoothie bowl shops, restaurants,
etc.), foodservice distributors and grocers
(retail and wholesale), where the latter is also
available for private label.
In this age of authenticity, more
consumers than ever are searching
for food and beverage products
that are original. They
want products that
tout the three “Rs” of
authenticity: that is,
products that are “reliable,” “respectful” and “real.” That’s
why Middleberg and others at Tropical Acaí
believe the timing couldn’t be better for the company’s products in the United States, espe-
cially as consumer demand grows for wellness products that are plant-based.
According to a recent study by the mar-
keting agency Slingshot, the pandemic has increased consumers’ penchant to eat
healthier foods. Roughly four in 10 people
are more inclined than before to shop for
natural or organic foods, while nearly half
intend to place more emphasis on foods that
boost the immune system, according to the
study. Both figures suggest that foods once
considered niche, such as acaí, are becoming
more mainstream.
According to a study in the Journal of Agricul-
tural and Food Chemistry, acaí “has been shown to be extremely powerful in its antioxidant
properties.” The website Healthline.com touts
acaí for being “loaded with powerful plant
compounds” that act as antioxidants that can
benefit the brain, heart and overall health. Acaí
also delivers healthy fats and fiber.
“The demand for healthy, antioxidant,
immune system-boosting foods really took off
during the pandemic,” says Middleberg, whose
company sells everything from acaí in its pure
form to acaí blender packs and acaí blender
cubes to acaí sorbet. “We have tremendous
growth ahead of us.”
AUTHENTIC AS IT GETS
Companies that offer authentic products have
stories behind them, and Tropical Acaí is no
exception. The company began in Brazil about
17 years ago and established its U.S. operation
in Pompano Beach just over two years ago.
Renata Prates, CEO for Tropical Acaí in the
United States, says there’s no other place in
the world that has the natural conditions to
produce premium acaí than the Amazonian
Rainforest. The trees that bear the berries are
the product of their environment — they rely on
natural rivers and their nutrients for irrigation
and growth. The people who harvest berries
from July through December are locals that live
near the river banks; they are skilled tree climb-
ers and pickers, and view their work as a craft.
The manufacturing facility sits beside the
tree farm in Belém. It’s crucial that the picked
berries are brought to the plant quickly and
processed and pasteurized the same day to
preserve freshness. While the berries are
washed by hand, they are never touched again
after entering the plant, Prates explains.
The “farm to blender” process doesn’t waver,
and Prates and Middleberg stress that authentici-
ty has everything to do with consistency. Because
it’s a vertically integrated company, Tropical Acaí
controls the entire process, from seed to ex-
traction to production and packaging.
“In the food industry today, it’s critical that you
offer the same product — all of the time,” Middle-
berg says, noting that Tropical Acaí is painstaking-
ly diligent when it comes to the consistency of its
overall operations. The product that comes out
of the company’s plant on a Friday is the same
product that came out of the plant the day before
and the day before that.
MAKING A NAME
Tropical Acaí relies on several third-party certi-
fications to help back its products’ authenticity.
For starters, all of its products use only organic
ingredients and are certified USDA Organic and
IBD Certified (the only Brazilian certifier of organic
products). They are also Non-GMO Project Veri-
fied, Certified Kosher and Certified Vegan, and the
company’s manufacturing facility is certified to
meet the world’s safest food-handling procedures,
including the Global Food Safety Initiative (GFSI)
and Safe Food 360.
Tropical Acaí has gone to these certification
lengths to not only enhance its reputation for au-
thentic products made with minimal ingredients,
but to separate it from other vendors that are
selling inauthentic acaí in the U.S., which might
contain purple dye for coloring or have been in-
fused with tapioca syrup to make it appear more
like gelato or ice cream, Prates says.
“So our goal at Tropical Acaí is to inform the
American public about what truly real acaí is like,”
she adds.
Middleberg said the company’s reputation as
a dependable importer and distributor of acaí
is spreading throughout the U.S. Tropical Acaí is
growing its business in areas where acaí is gaining
in popularity, such as Florida, California and the
tri-state area of New York, New Jersey and Con-
necticut. The company is also seeing growth spurts
in Montana and several eastern shore states as
well as Alabama, Texas and Tennessee.
Many younger adults, such as Generation Zers
(those born from the mid-1990s up to the early
2010s), are no longer frequenting yogurt shops
for sugar-filled dairy products. “They are going to
smoothie shops to get real acaí topped with fruit,”
Middleberg says.
Continued education is crucial to growing the
business. Many people aren’t familiar with acaí, but
Tropical Acaí is doing its part to educate them about
the product’s benefits through social media and
videos on YouTube, among other avenues. Middle-
berg and Prates also say the product will sell itself.
“Like many products that originate in South
America — from coffee to chocolate to cane sugar
— there’s something special about acaí that makes
it incredibly craveable,” Middleberg says. “You just
can’t get authentic acaí like this anywhere else.”