Harvesting Acai Berries

The acai palm grows in Brazil in the Amazon Rainforest. It is a towering palm tree that has a long, thin trunk and reaches up to 25 meters high. On top of this palm tree you will find a group of leafy branches. These branches produce berries two times a year and each branch will produce hundreds of small, dark purple berries that are known as acai berries. These berries account for a large portion of the native people's diet.

These berries are traditionally harvested by climbing up the tree and cutting down the branches. A brave person will shimmy themselves up the tree with some sort of knife or cutting device. When they reach the top they will cut the branch and it will fall to the ground, along with the berries, where it will be collected.

However, now these berries are now mass-produced by small villages of farmers. These berries have a very short life span (just 24 hours) and they must therefore be harvested, loaded onto boats and shipped to the markets or processing plants as quickly as physically possible. A transport boat will usually ship the berries to the local market overnight.

Processing & Packaging

The acai fruit only makes up around 10% of the actual acai berry because the berry is mostly seed, which is surrounded by pulp. The berry must therefore go through a process of separating the pulp from the seed and this produces a thick puree, which is edible.

Depending on where it is being transported the acai berry will be turned into different things such as juice, pulp, dried fruit or freeze dried powder.

The juice and pulp are popular as they are often used in juice blends, fruit smoothies and many other beverages.

Recent Interest

Recently there has been a huge increase in the interest and popularity of the acai berry from western nations such as the United States, Australia and many more. Large companies, who will turn the berries into a large variety of products, are buying the berries from the farmers.

This arrangement is very beneficial for the local people, the large companies and the rainforest itself. This is because the harvesting of acai berries does not destroy any trees but instead it actually encourages locals to protect the trees instead of chopping them down for wood and palm hearts.