Look at this magical circle! It is called a "peconha", it is made from a young açaí palm leaf and is used to help the Açaí harvesters climb açaí palms.

That circle is so culturally important that it names the açaí harvesters - they are the "peconheiros".

Look at Celso's feet, they use the peconha to firm their feet around the açaí palm to climb these thin palms.

It is absolutely incredible seeing them climb those thin palms with a machete and come back carrying a "cacho de Açaí". Each bunch has from 6 to 12 lbs. of the fruit. They can't just drop it from the tree as they will lose a lot of the small dark fruit.

In order to get the fruit off the cluster, we need to carefully slide our hands up and down each string, it will stain your hands for a few hours but it actually feels good.

Celso, the man in the pictures, is the owner of his land and uses part of the açaí for himself and his family and sells the rest.
It is important to consume wild harvested Açaí from small land owners as some big pulp exporters are destroying parts of the forest for açaí farms which is bad for the local population, the forest and the Açaí, as monocultures can create plagues which would destroy the wild açaí too.
We can't have the Açaí to become the new palm oil - keep the Açaí wild and the forest standing.
Rainforest Chica açaí oil is ALWAYS sourced by small land owners co-ops.

Try the best Açaí Oil in the market! Click on the picture below to experience Rainforest Chica certified organic Açaí Oil!