Grupo BBF ( Brasil BioFuels), a Brazilian company that for 15 years has been active in sustainable agribusiness from oil palm cultivation, biotechnology, biofuel production and renewable energy generation, is one of the main employers in the northern region of Brazil. The company, which was founded with the aim of decarbonizing the Amazon rainforest and generating jobs and income, has developed a verticalized and integrated business model based on the sustainable cultivation of oil palm.
The company plants the palm, harvests and processes the fruit to extract its oil. From it, it produces biofuels and will develop as of 2026 the unprecedented Green Diesel (HVO) and Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF). With the biofuel already produced, the company generates renewable electric power for local distributors, serving more than 140,000 families in isolated regions of the Amazon.
Recovery of areas
In the north of Brazil, oil palm can be grown sustainably in abundance. By cultivating more than 75,000 hectares of oil palm, the Grupo BBF recovers forest areas that were degraded in the past and captures carbon in the region. In addition, the company has more than 60,000 hectares of Permanent Preservation Areas (APP) and Legal Reserves (RL).
Oil palm cultivation in Brazil recovers degraded areas in the Amazon, generating jobs and income. Its cultivation is perennial and cannot be mechanized, keeping people in the countryside.
In addition, Brazil is a global benchmark in the sustainable cultivation of this oilseed and has one of the strictest laws in the world. The plant can only be grown in degraded areas until 2007, in compliance with the Agroecological Zoning of Oil Palm, decree 7.172 of the Federal Government of 2010.
Under this pillar, the Grupo BBF generates approximately 7,000 direct jobs and more than 18,000 indirect jobs, making it one of the largest employers in the northern region of Brazil. The company constantly invests in infrastructure and services for the communities around its operations.
"Sustainable palm cultivation is an alternative for forest recovery, job creation and socio-economic development," explains Milton Steagall, CEO of Grupo BBF.
Now, the company plans to double its workforce in the Amazon region by 2026, the year in which it intends to start producing the unprecedented Green Diesel (HVO) and Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF) biofuels in Brazil.
"Since 2019, we have had a big jump in the number of employees, increasing our staff by 18 times, from 345 in 2019, to 6,680 by the first half of 2023. Now, our expectation is to double the current number in the coming years," Steagall concludes.
For the BBF it is fundamental to create job and income opportunities for this population, as long as the forest is kept standing.
About Grupo BBF
Grupo BBF ( Brasil BioFuels), a Brazilian company founded in 2008, is the largest palm oil producer in Latin America, with a cultivated area of over 75,000 hectares and a production capacity of 200,000 tons of oil per year.
The company is a pioneer in the creation of sustainable solutions for renewable energy generation in isolated systems, with thermoelectric plants powered by biofuels produced in the region. Its agricultural activity recovers areas that were degraded until 2007 in the Amazon, following the Oil Palm Agroecological Zoning (ZAE), approved by the Federal Government's Decree 7172, May 7, 2010.
The Group has created an integrated business model in which it operates from the beginning to the end of the value chain - from sustainable oil palm cultivation, crude oil extraction, biofuel production, biotechnology and renewable energy generation - with assets totaling around R$2.2 billion and activities generating more than 6,000 direct jobs in the northern region of Brazil.
Grupo BBF 's operations are located in the states of Acre, Amazonas, Rondônia, Roraima and Pará, and comprise 38 thermoelectric plants (25 in operation and 13 under implementation), 3 oil palm crushing units, a soybean extruder and a biodiesel industry.
The company is expanding its supply of biofuels and has signed partnerships for the production of Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF) and Hydrotreated Vegetable Oil (HVO), also called green diesel. The new sustainable fuels will be produced as of 2026 in the country's first Biorefinery, currently under construction in the Manaus Free Trade Zone.
The Group has a clear purpose with the Amazon forest, with the future of the next generations and with the planet. Today, more than 11 million oil palm trees are planted in the Amazon, and through this cultivation the company is responsible for storing more than 25 million tons of carbon in the atmosphere.
