Grupo BBF will start growing cocoa and açaí together with oil palm in the amazon region

Company projects to have the world's largest individual cocoa production by 2030

São Paulo, June 20, 2023 - In an unprecedented initiative, Grupo BBF (Brasil BioFuels) has announced that it will inaugurate the Agroforestry System (SAF) concept at its operations in Pará and Roraima. The innovative project involves the intercropping of oil palm with cocoa and açaí. The aim is to recover degraded areas (RAD) in the Amazon region by growing native species and capturing carbon from the atmosphere.

Cocoa and açaí cultivation is due to begin this year, with around 1,000 hectares being planted in the state of Pará. In all, 30,000 hectares are to be planted with the fruit native to the Amazon by the company, which plans to be the world's largest individual cocoa producer by 2030. The company invests in cutting-edge technology and meticulous planning to achieve this goal, contributing to the socio-economic development and environmental preservation of the regions where it operates.

In 2022, Grupo BBF signed an agreement with Vibra to supply Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF) and Green Diesel - known as Hydrotreated Vegetable Oil (HVO). Around 100,000 hectares of oil palm will need to be planted by BBF to produce the 500 million liters of second-generation biofuels per year. As well as promoting the production of the new biofuels, the new project will speed up the recovery of degraded areas and also generate new opportunities for cultivation, such as certified cocoa.

"The planting of oil palm follows one of the strictest environmental laws in the world, the Agroecological Zoning of Oil Palm, which allows this plant to be cultivated in degraded areas until December 2007. We're going to use cocoa and açaí, which are two species native to the region, in areas where oil palm can't be grown, which will speed up the recovery of degraded areas, as well as capturing and storing carbon," explains Grupo BBF's CEO, Milton Steagall.

Like oil palm, cocoa and açaí cultivation cannot be mechanized. "With this, we will generate thousands of new jobs in the countryside, in a sustainable cultivation model that accelerates the recovery of the Amazon biome. We're going to produce high-quality, certified cocoa, following the strictest ESG standards in its cultivation," says Steagall.

Grupo BBF is working together with the Executive Committee of the Cocoa Farming Plan (CEPLAC), an agency of the Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock and Supply (MAPA), to take cocoa cultivation to new heights of excellence. CEPLAC has the largest cocoa gene bank in the world and with this the company will be able to carry out research and experiments that will enable the production of high-quality cocoa that is resistant to diseases and pests.

Currently, around 65% of the cocoa consumed in the world comes from the Ivory Coast and Ghana. The 30,000 hectares planned by BBF to grow the fruit is a huge amount, according to Steagall, compared to the average farm in these countries, which has up to seven hectares. "Our product will be 100% traceable, from the beginning to the end of the chain," he explains.

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 of around 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 Agroecological Zoning of Oil Palm (ZAE), approved by Decree 7.172 of the Federal Government, of May 7, 2010.

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$2.1 billion and activities generating more than 6,000 direct jobs in the northern region of Brazil. 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 oil palm crushing units, a soybean extruder and a biodiesel industry.

The company is expanding its supply of biofuels and has signed partnerships to produce Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF) and Hydrotreated Vegetable Oil (HVO), also known as green diesel. The new sustainable fuels will be produced from 2025 at the country's first Biorefinery, currently under construction in the Manaus Free Trade Zone.

BBF Press Office

imprensa@grupobbf.com.br

GBR Communication

Fernanda Domiciano / Vagner Magalhães