Açaí is a renewable resource that can provide a sustainable livelihood for subsistence harvesters … [+]
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OK Google, find an Açai bowl near me… Over the past decade, a smoothie bowl made of this exotic Brazilian berry has become all the rage in the United States, making its way from hype to ubiquity. Described as a superfood – naturally low in sugar and rich in healthy fats and protein – Açai has quickly become one of the fastest-growing products in the food industry: today, it comes in third of all the frozen fruit sold in supermarkets in the USA after much more conventional strawberries and blueberries.
It all started with one Açai bowl that Ryan Black, southern California-based surfer and former pro football player, first tried in Brazil in 1999. Over the two decades since then, his company, SAMBAZON, has grown from a food startup that introduced the Brazilian berry to North America to a $100M+ global leader of the category. The popular brand of Açai-based foods and beverages loved by Megan Markle, Salma Hayek, and Gisele Bündhen sets a precedent by proving that ethical business can also be profitable. And investors are also on-board: in the last year SAMBAZON secured over $50 million in funding.
SAMBAZON passionately pursue a triple bottom-line that measures success economically, socially and environmentally. Black, its founder is a leader of the movement that connects such brands like other GenZ darlings Dr. Bronner’s or plant-based creamery Miyoko’s with consumers around the idea of conscious commerce.
As part of my research on purpose driven businesses, I had the opportunity to sit down with Black and learn more about SAMBAZON.
Christopher Marquis: Can you tell me why you started SAMBAZON?
Ryan Black, CEO of Sambazon
Sambazon
Ryan Black: I was a professional athlete, played in the NFL and in Europe and knew my career was coming to an end. I went on a trip to Brazil to celebrate the millennium and surf with my girlfriend and my best friend Edmund Nichols. There at the beach I had my first açai bowl. That was the time long before the organic food craze started, and people didn’t know what superfoods were. Açai has been a staple of the Brazilian indigenous people’s diet for centuries. And yet it was athletes, namely the Gracie family, the founders of Brazilian jiu-jitsu, who brought it to the mainstream, starting making Açai smoothies and bowls in Rio de Janeiro, half a decade …….
