Grupo BBF is one of the largest employers in the north of the country

In the first half of this year alone, the company hired 1,486 new employees and conducted 80 internal trainings

São Paulo, July 13, 2023 - Grupo BBF (Brasil BioFuels), which operates in sustainable agribusiness from oil palm cultivation, biotechnology, biofuel production and renewable energy generation, stands out as one of the companies that employs the most people in the northern region of the country, with almost 7,000 direct jobs and around 21,000 indirect jobs.

Currently, around 29.6 million people live in the Amazon region, according to the Brazilian Institute of Research and Statistics (IBGE). For Grupo BBF it is essential to create job and income opportunities for this population, as long as the forest remains standing.

Grupo BBF closed the first half of the year by hiring 1,486 new employees. There were 947 who started working at the company's operations in Pará (PA), 45 in São Paulo (SP) and 494 in São João da Baliza (RR). There are also 440 job openings to work for the company in the states of Pará, Roraima, Rondônia, Amazonas and São Paulo.

The company plans to increase 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've had a big jump in the number of employees, increasing our staff by 18 times, from 345 in 2019, to 6,850 in 2023, so far. We now expect to increase our workforce over the next few years," says Grupo BBF CEO Milton Steagall.

Opportunity, training and development for BBF employees

Grupo BBF believes in the socio-economic development of the regions where it operates and in the potential of its employees. Under this pillar, the company encourages the development and professional development of its employees by offering professional courses, lectures and internal campaigns.

In the first half of this year alone, about 80 training classes, including technical, regulatory and skills development, were formed, among them, more than 1,600 employees received various learning and improvement courses with internal and external instructors.

In addition, the company also seeks to collaborate with the inclusion of people with disabilities (PCD) in the labor market through a partnership with the National Industrial Learning Service (SENAI) to encourage professional training and personal development workshops for young talents from Pará. After the training, the company also offers several opportunities to the trainees within the selection process for its effective staff.

Internally, Grupo BBF constantly guides its employees with preventive actions in all the company's activities with the aim of guaranteeing and improving safety in the workplace, preventing accidents and occupational illnesses.

"When we look at the number of almost 7,000 people working in Grupo BBF 's operations, we are filled with pride, not just because we are one of the main employers in the north of the country, but because we want to encourage more and more people through professional development. Our mission is to continue offering an inclusive and welcoming environment every day to promote improvements and generate more growth opportunities for our employees," says Rogério Ribas, People Management Superintendent at Grupo BBF.

Diversity and Inclusion in the Labor Market

Grupo BBF has almost 7,000 direct employees working in five states in the northern region and in the city of São Paulo (SP). Around 85% of these professionals work in Pará, mainly in the cultivation of the more than 60,000 hectares of oil palm planted in the state by the company.

In addition, Grupo BBF regularly participates in the Job Fair for People with Disabilities and People Rehabilitated by the INSS, promoted by the State Secretariat for Social Assistance, Labor, Employment and Income (SEASTER).

Another important highlight is the diversity of the Grupo BBF workforce. Currently, around 15% of positions are held by women. Grupo BBF 's female employees are involved in all the company's activities, especially in the agricultural area, where their role is extremely important for the start of the Group's verticalized business.

It all starts with the planting of the oil palm seeds in the pre-vineyard, planted by the hands of dozens of women farmers from Grupo BBF. Cared for like a baby in its first days of life, the seedlings are left in a shaded area with constant irrigation, strengthening over time. In the next stage, when the seedling is stronger, it goes to the nursery, where it continues to be tended, in a job carried out by a team made up of dozens more women farmers.

Grupo BBF 's business model is not mechanized, and it generates thousands of jobs in the northern region of Brazil. " Grupo BBF 's operations depend directly on human labor. That's why we highly value the local labor market, especially women who take on the challenge of working in our fields. We can say that it is through the hands of our women farmers that our business is born, so they have a special place within the company," concludes Ribas.

More job opportunities in the state of Pará

In all, 285 vacancies are open to work in the state of Pará, in the municipalities of Moju, Acará, Belém, Concórdia do Pará, Paragominas and Tomé-Açu. The opportunities are for: vacancies for People with Disabilities (PCD), intern, automation technician, legal assistant, business security inspector, mechanic assistant, industrial and auto mechanic, commercial consultant, logistics assistant, industrial production supervisor, agricultural machinery operator, general fleet coordinator, automation technician, agricultural coordinator, industrial maintenance engineer, environmental technician, machine and loader operator, production operator, auto electrician, technology development coordinator, Human Resources analyst, agronomic assistant, welder, truck driver, agricultural leader and rural worker.

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 creating sustainable solutions for generating renewable energy 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 Decree 7.172 of the Federal Government, of May 7, 2010.

Grupo BBF 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, comprising 38 thermoelectric plants (25 in operation and 13 under implementation), 3 palm oil 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.