Have you ever thought that a big part of the nuts you consume are produced in Brazil? We bet you didn’t!
It’s estimated that 90% of the local production is exported, and that most of the consumers of Brazilian nuts are the USA and the European Union.
Since this product is such a great part of the Brazilian economy, today we are telling you everything you need to know about it! Keep reading!
So, in today’s article, we are going to talk about these main topics:
- The story of Brazilian Nuts;
- How does the production of nuts work in Brazil;
- The exportation numbers and curiosities;
- Future predictions for the Brazilian Nuts commerce.
The story of Brazilian Nuts
To begin with: the chestnut tree is very common in the Amazon, covering an area of 325 million hectares, most of it belonging to Amazonas state.
When talking about the product’s history, firstly, you need to know that there is a long history concerning it, for instance, the first signs of Brazilian nuts commercialization are dated in the XVIII century on Amazon.
Besides that, news about Brazilian Nuts can be found since the first European arrival in Brazil, they used to write about the nuts’ benefits. But it was only in 1567 that some European explorers started to get interested in this product.
Thereafter, a few Dutch merchants took a shipment of “wild fruit oil” from Amazon to the Netherlands. And just like that, nuts-based products could be found in European countries.
Eventually, the Brazilian Nut legacy was created and it started to be commercialized as food.
As time passed, in 1900, Brazilian Nuts were already the third most exported product, running behind rubber and cocoa. Thirty years later, Brazil went through the “rubber crisis”, and it was the cue for Brazilian nuts to own the market, and so it did.
Then, Brazil started to invest time and money in nuts production, earning loyal buyers and Brazilian nuts lovers all over the world.
How does the production of nuts work in Brazil?
Brazilian nuts can be considered an organic origin product because there is no need to use chemicals to conserve the nut or produce more of it, furthermore, the chestnut tree is very strong and can grow freely all over Amazon.
As a matter of fact, more than 90% of the nut production comes from extractivism, and most of this percentage is made by traditional families of nut producers, even some native tribes use the nuts economically.
The producers start this process by picking the fruit from the ground, the amount collected will be broken for the removal of seeds. Then, the seeds are transported to a warehouse, where the destination of each seed will be determined. It seems easy, but there is a big process before the harvest, the farmers have to map the trees and clean the way.
Also, the management of chestnut trees is a traditional activity, and key to the economy of thousands of extractivist families in the Amazon. The state of Amazonas is the biggest producer of nuts, and in the last few years, a plan to increment the technological process in the production of nuts is being developed.
The exportation numbers and curiosities
Nowadays, more than 60 countries over the world benefit from the Brazilian Nuts exportation. In addition to that, as data from the Ministry of Finance, the exports in 2021 until July reached 7,7 tonnes, approximately US$ 21 million.
Besides that, Fortaleza is the main exporter in Brazil, in the first months of 2019 they exported US$ 25 million in Brazilian Nuts, destined for many countries such as the USA and Portugal.
There are many curiosities about the Brazilian nuts, for instance, did you know that because of its large Amazon territory, Bolivia is a direct competition to the production and exportation of nuts?! The nuts are also produced in a small quantity by countries as Peru, Colombia and Venezuela.
Future predictions for the Brazilian Nuts commerce
Evidently, the Brazilian nuts are famous for their special taste and benefits, but some companies improved the way to use them.
One of the main examples is the company “Natura”, which usually develops a lot of natural ecological beauty products. For example, Natura has a whole line of cosmetics called “Ekos”. Natura Ekos was created to be an ecological line of products that value the beauty and the affluence of nature on Amazon.
Natura Ekos is one of the main reasons why we should expect a lot of great things coming from Brazilian Nuts Production, joining the tradition among the Amazon Communities and the urge to have sustainable products, Natura changed the game by ecologically using natural resources, starting a great tendency for the Brazilian economy.
You can learn more about sustainable companies reading one of our articles about reverse logistics.
After all this information, are there any doubts left about this wonderful Brazilian product? Don’t hesitate to contact us and free your mind of all questions you may have about International Business subjects!
Let’s move to the future together!
