Protect the rainforest. Eat Hylea brazil nuts.
The global brazil nut production covers between 23,000 and 25,000 tonnes per year. 70 to 80 percent of the production takes place in Bolivia. The city of Riberalta in the federal state of Pando, supplies 85 percent of the country's total production. The Fortaleza area, which covers 550,000 hectares and was family-owned until 2006, and is covered exclusively by rainforest, is home to 41 municipalities with which Hylea cooperates: more than 15,000 collectors are busy harvesting the capsules which contain the nuts and delivering them to the collecting stations. This secures a part of the regular income of the population.
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Peter Hecker discussing with the locals
Brazil nut trees (Bertholletia excelsa) cannot be grown on plantations, but depend of the complex ecosystem of natural forests. They live and thrive only in symbiosis with a multitude of plants and animals resident there. Above all, brazil nuts are dependent on the female orchid bee (Euglossa): only this bee, with its extra long tongue, is able to pollinate the large yellow flowers of the tree. Additionally, this bee species does not live in colonies and therefore couldn't be kept on a plantation. The local population in the structurally weak rainforest regions live exclusively on the wild brazil nut harvest, explains Mario Ebel. "People would cut down the rainforest if we didn't consume brazil nuts, because they would have to look for alternatives to survive. We took the trouble to calculate that one container protects up to 700 hectares of rainforest from deforestation, and feeds up to 90 people for an entire year.
Gatherers at work
A 200g bag protects up to 87.5m2 of rainforest. Brazil nuts are therefore the most sustainable food on this planet.
The Hecker family
Storage in the rainforest
Mario Ebel
Visit the company at Fruit Logistica at the Böhmer GmbH booth, Hall 20 Stand B-01
For more information:
Hylea Food AG
info@hylea-foods.com