Acai is a fruit that travels thousands of kilometers before ending up in an acai bowl.
At Nossa, we require a logistics chain with strict quality controls to ensure rigorous monitoring at every stage of the journey.
Our traceability begins directly in the Amazon, with partner producers who harvest acai within diversified agroforestry systems. Each fruit delivery is identified, documented, and tracked to ensure complete transparency regarding the product's origin.
In this article, discover how we ensure complete traceability of our organic acai, from the Amazon to Europe.
Why traceability is essential for frozen organic acai
Acai is a particularly sensitive product. Harvested in the Amazon, it is processed into frozen purée within 24 hours of picking and then transported frozen to Europe. This fruit requires rigorous monitoring at every stage of the supply chain.
At Nossa!, traceability ensures food safety, compliance with organic certifications, maintenance of the cold chain, and complete transparency for both consumers and professionals.
Each batch of acai can therefore be identified and tracked from the harvesting of the berries through final delivery.
Ensuring food safety
In the food industry, traceability is a central tool for ensuring product safety. It makes it possible to accurately track a batch's journey and quickly understand its history in the event of an inspection or anomaly.
At Nossa!, every step is recorded in a structured manner, from the origin of the fruit and harvest date through receipt at the factory, processing, quality analyses, transport, storage, and final delivery. This tracking makes it possible to reconstruct a product's entire journey at any time.
Ensuring organic compliance
Nossa! acai comes from certified organic supply chains that impose a high level of documentary and operational requirements. As soon as the fruit arrives at the factory, producer certificates, transport documents, and cooperative records are checked to ensure batch compliance.
The production process is structured to preserve the integrity of organic products and prevent any mixing with conventional acai. Each batch is monitored and identified at every stage, from receipt through final packaging.
Maintaining the cold chain through to France
Since acai is a frozen product, temperature control is essential to preserve its quality and nutritional properties throughout the process. After processing, the products are frozen and then transported in refrigerated containers maintained at around -22°C.
The temperature is continuously monitored throughout transport using recording devices. Upon arrival in France, the cold chain is maintained during unloading, storage and distribution to prevent any interruption that could affect the product.
Being able to trace every acai batch
Each production day corresponds to a unique batch number that makes it possible to precisely identify the origin of the fruit, the supplier, the processing date, the checks carried out, the container used and the customer receiving it.
This system enables complete traceability of the product, from the fruit to the final packaging. It is an essential tool for meeting the requirements of certifications, audits and professional customers, while ensuring full control of the supply chain.
It all begins in the Amazon: acai harvesting
Acai harvesting takes place in agroforestry systems where several tree and vegetation species coexist. This diversity shapes the agricultural landscape and directly influences production conditions.
According to the information shared internally, these systems have a higher carbon storage capacity than more intensive models. They also promote richer biodiversity and contribute to soil quality and crop resilience in the face of climate variations.
To learn more about the differences between these production models, read our dedicated article on the comparison between agroforestry and monoculture in acai production.
The role of cooperatives and collection points
Once harvested, the fruit is transported to collection points managed by partner cooperatives. The cooperatives we currently work with are Apremarmu-Mupi, Coopaijc, Coaebat and Cart.
They ensure that the harvests are received, consolidate the volumes and formalize the transactions through tracking documents that accompany each delivery.
Purchase receipts: the first traces of traceability
Each fruit delivery is accompanied by purchase receipts, which constitute the first formal proof of traceability. These documents include the producer's name, community, delivery date, volume sold and price paid.
They make it possible to link each batch directly to its origin and reconstruct its journey from the very first stage of the chain.
Traceability within the factory in Brazil
Once the fruit arrives at the facility, traceability continues at every stage of the processing operation. The objective is to maintain precise lot tracking throughout production in order to ensure food safety, product compliance, and supply chain transparency.
At Nossa!, every movement of the product is recorded from the receipt of the fruit through final packaging.
Fruit reception and inspection
The process begins as soon as the raw acai arrives at the facility. Each lot received is identified using several essential details, including the supplier, community of origin, harvest date, receipt date, delivered volume, and documents associated with the transport.
This system links each production stage to a specific lot and maintains a detailed record of the product's journey within the facility. This organization facilitates raw material tracking and makes it possible to quickly trace a product's origin when necessary.
For organic products, the compliance documents provided by producers and cooperatives are also checked to ensure consistency between the lots received and the certification requirements.
Every stage recorded at the facility
Once the lots enter production, every operation carried out at the facility is recorded to ensure continuity of traceability.
Tracking covers the various processing stages, including fruit selection, washing, disinfection, pulping, standardization, pasteurization, packaging, freezing, and storage.
This organization ensures complete visibility into the product's journey within the facility.
Discover our article on processing acai at the facility
Strict separation of organic and conventional lots
The facility applies specific procedures to prevent any mixing of organic and conventional products. This separation applies to raw materials as well as to the various processing and storage stages.
The objective is to preserve the integrity of organic products throughout the production process and ensure their compliance with international certification requirements.
Maritime transport: preserving acai until it reaches Europe
After processing and freezing, acai begins a new key stage in its journey: transport between Brazil and Europe. This logistical phase plays an essential role in maintaining product quality and ensuring continuity throughout the traceability chain.
At Nossa!, every shipment is organized to ensure lot tracking, temperature control, and product preservation throughout the journey.
Departure from the Port of Belém
Once packaged and stored, the products are shipped from the port of Vila do Conde, located in the Belém region of Brazil. The goods are loaded into refrigerated containers, which then board ships bound for Europe.
The maritime journey generally takes more than a month before arrival at the port of Le Havre, France.
Refrigerated containers maintained at a controlled temperature
Acai is transported in frozen containers maintained at approximately minus 22°C to preserve the product's quality throughout the journey.
Each container has its own identification, allowing shipments to be tracked precisely and ensuring continuous traceability throughout maritime transport.
Why Nossa! prefers maritime transport to air transport
Maritime transport is currently preferred for shipping açaí between Brazil and Europe. This solution makes it possible to consolidate logistics flows and limit the environmental impact associated with the international transport of frozen goods.
Conversely, air transport has a much greater environmental and economic cost, particularly for products requiring a continuous cold chain.
To better understand this logistics choice, discover our article on maritime transport for açaí and its environmental challenges.
Arrival in France and maintaining the cold chain
After several weeks of maritime transport, the acai containers arrive at the port of Le Havre. This step marks the beginning of product distribution to the warehouses to serve our various types of customers.
Throughout this journey, maintaining the cold chain remains a priority to guarantee the quality and safety of the products until they reach their final destination.
The arrival of the containers at the port of Le Havre
Upon arrival in France, the refrigerated containers are unloaded at the port of Le Havre before being transferred to road transport solutions suited to frozen products.
Choosing Le Havre notably simplifies logistics and customs operations, since we are a French company.
Refrigerated transport to the warehouses
After leaving the port, the containers are transported by refrigerated truck to partner storage sites. The containers remain under controlled temperature throughout this phase to prevent any break in the cold chain.
Transport is carried out using equipment suited to frozen products and integrated into a logistics organization designed to ensure the continuity of the flow.
Product storage before distribution
Nossa! products are then stored with logistics partners specializing in frozen products. These facilities ensure the preservation of the goods and the preparation of orders for different customers.
Stocks are tracked by product reference and batch number to maintain precise visibility of the products held in the warehouse and their destination.
Distribution adapted to different logistical flows
Product distribution is then organized according to geographic areas and order types.
Some of the shipments are destined for regional warehouses and professionals, while smaller orders are handled by specialized carriers capable of maintaining subzero temperatures through to final delivery.
This organization makes it possible to adapt shipments to customers' needs while maintaining the requirements associated with frozen products.
Maintaining the cold chain through to the end customer
Maintaining the cold chain remains essential through to the final delivery of the products. Every logistical step is designed to preserve the storage temperature and ensure product stability during transport, storage, and distribution.
This continuity helps preserve the quality, texture, and properties of açaí until it reaches professionals and consumers.
To learn more, discover our dedicated article on the importance of the cold chain in transporting frozen acai.
Key takeaways from Nossa!'s acai traceability
The traceability system implemented by Nossa! makes it possible to track each batch of acai throughout its journey, from Amazonian communities to final delivery in Europe.
Thanks to the information collected at each stage, we can precisely identify the origin of the fruit, the cooperatives involved, the processing conditions, the checks carried out, and the logistical solutions used for transport and storage.
This system makes it possible, in particular, to identify:
- the producer and community of origin,
- the harvest and processing date,
- the documents associated with the batch,
- the quality checks carried out at the factory,
- the container used during maritime transport,
- storage and shipping conditions.
Traceability thus serves as a common thread running through every stage of the supply chain. It ensures continuity in product monitoring and provides complete visibility into the journey of each batch.
Beyond regulatory and logistical requirements, this organization also reflects a desire to make the production chain more transparent and easier to understand, both for professionals and consumers.