Berry Good Business
JACK EPSTEIN
Latin Trade, February 2006
"The miracle berry," as some promoters have called it, has such famous fans as Brazilian supermodel Gisele Bündchen, British rocker Sting and U.S. tennis star Andre Agassi.
"It's a rare opportunity for business to take something from the rainforest in an economically low impact, sustainable way," Alton Johnson, CEO of Bossa Nova Beverage Group, told me. Johnson, who changed careers after tasting açai while working as a sales executive for Harmon International in São Paulo, predicts the Amazon fruit "could be huge business" as part of the growing … natural-foods market.
Bossa Nova, a Los Angeles company, recently teamed up with Rainforest Alliance to help finance the preservation of one Amazon tree for every bottle of açai sold. The dark berry, which its promoters say is rich in antioxidants, iron, calcium, vitamins A, C and E, is handpicked from palm trees.
Too often, the notion of corporate responsibility falls to the side of donations to charity or, worse, public relations "cover" for plain old misbehavior. It's fine if a bank wants to give money to a scholarship fund for poor kids, quite another if a tobacco company or fast food operation hopes its check for cancer research is enough to make up for years of mis-marketing their products as safe. The better strategy by far is to find businesses and business models that actually do good, not try to make up for social problems after the fact.
The CEOs of these companies are showing a respect for people, their communities and the environment. These are among one of the brightest stars of global free trade.
© Copyright 2006. Latin Trade
