The Brazilian company produces organic heart of palm with environmentally friendly practices.
Production of the plant is a $500 million business worldwide, and Brazil is both the largest producer and consumer. However, “heart of palm has been a plague for forest biodiversity in the past,” says Roberto Pini, Florestra Viva’s founder, “extracted from natural forests of Brazil with such intensity that some of its species almost reached extinction.”
His company owns a multi-crop farm that grows a less-vulnerable variety, pupunha, without the use of chemicals, and also sources from local smallholder farmers.
Moringa, a sustainable-agroforestry investor in Africa and Latin America, didn’t disclose the amount of the investment, which will expand the farm’s operations, open a bottling facility and expand its farmer network.
Brazilian film celebrity Fernando Meirelles also invested.
