How Mazô Maná works to nourish the world and support the Amazon rainforest

Born in the heart of the Amazon Rainforest, in Altamira (PA), with the purpose of nourishing the world with the wisdom and diversity of the Amazon. This is Mazô Maná, a company that develops products in the area of ​​functional nutrition – but that does much more than that. Mazô's entire business model and production system were created with the aim of generating value and well-being for the communities of the Forest in mind, in addition to encouraging the conservation of forests, moving away from the exploitation model based on deforestation and monoculture.

Throughout this post, we will tell you a little more about what Mazô Maná is and how we have been working to achieve our goals.

What does Mazô Maná do?

Mazô has two main areas of activity: functional nutrition products and consulting services for companies and businesses that also want to work towards the conservation of the Amazon.

In terms of products, the first to hit the market is the Amazon Forest Supershake. Developed by the Mazô Maná team using 14 items from the Amazon biodiversity, the Supershake is a 100% plant-based food supplement.

The list of ingredients includes products such as babassu, cocoa and Brazil nuts, all of which have important effects on the body. All of them are produced by traditional communities or family farmers in the region, and Mazô's principle is to always purchase as directly as possible from producers and at a price above market prices, as a way of generating income and new opportunities for the people of the region.

Discover all the details of the Amazon Rainforest Supershake Mazô Maná

Mazô's relationship with the Forest

A quick look at news sites shows how rapidly the climate emergency has progressed and how it is having an ever-increasing impact on the world. In the Amazon Rainforest, a key hub for dealing with this challenge, the situation remains dire: if there is no sudden reversal of deforestation trends, the point of no return (i.e., the moment when the forest will no longer play its role, ceasing to generate rainfall, for example) will be reached within this decade.

The challenge is huge and to act on it it is essential to give space and listen to traditional populations, who have managed the biome for thousands of years and have been able to extract all the necessary nutrients from it without having to resort to destroying the forest.

To give you an idea, half of the 390 billion trees in the Amazon belong to 227 species (out of a total of 16,000 that exist in the region). Many of the genera that have become hyperdominant were managed by traditional populations over thousands of years, valuing those that provided nutrients and sustenance, in a concept known as Anthropogenic Forest.

This is the way Mazô Maná found to act directly on the issue: listening to and valuing the knowledge of those who have already demonstrated that they are prepared for the challenge. To do this, we work at the intersection of traditional and scientific knowledge and we operate in a network, as we understand the size of the complexity involved in the challenges of the Amazon Rainforest.

The people behind the company

One of Mazô Maná's greatest strengths is our team, which combines insights from within the Amazon Rainforest (with in-depth knowledge of the region's challenges) with experience in the traditional market (and the quest to create new, truly sustainable business models).

The company's leadership is divided between Marcelo Salazar, who coordinated the Instituto Socioambiental (ISA) office in Terra do Meio for 15 years, and Zé Porto, an executive with over 20 years of experience in the marketing area. The two share the position of co-CEO.

The founding team also includes Airam Correa (a serial entrepreneur who has already created three other companies and was selected for highly prestigious programs, such as Y Combinator and Singularity University) and Raimunda Rodrigues (a riverside worker, resident of the Rio Iriri Extractive Reserve (PA), and manager of the mini-plant in the Rio Novo community, which produces flour, oils and Brazil nuts).

Learn more about the Mazô Maná founding team

In addition to them, the purpose of feeding the world with the diversity and wisdom of the Amazon caught the attention of other important partners who joined the business as advisors or investors. The line includes names such as Alex Atala, Bela Gil, Eduardo Neves, Esteban Walther and Arturo Isola.

Get to know the profile of Mazô's advisors

Among the companies and institutions that partner with Mazô Maná, with whom we work in different ways, are Reenvolver, ProNutrition, AMAZ, 100% Amazônia, Conexões Povos da Floresta, COPAVAM, CPOTX, Rede de Cantinas da Terra do Meio, Origens Brasil and Assobio (Association of Sociobioeconomy Businesses of the Amazon).

Participation of traditional peoples in Mazô Maná

Over time, we have come to understand that where there are traditional peoples, there is also a standing forest – hence the importance we attach to the need to share wisdom with the communities in the region. More than just having Amazonian ingredients in Mazô products, we understand that we have to work to create paths that allow the creation of a new economic model for the region, one that is not based on formulas such as deforestation and monoculture.

We have developed various levels of partnership to put this exchange of values ​​with traditional peoples into practice. It is a relationship that ranges from the most common models of commercial relations to the inclusion of communities in our list of partners.

Business relationship

The ingredients for Mazô Maná products are purchased as directly as possible from producers and at a price higher than that usually charged by the market in general. A large part of them come from associations and cooperatives in the Amazon, such as the Rede de Cantinas da Terra do Meio, which operates in an area of ​​9 million hectares and brings together more than 14 community associations.

Productive support

Mazô Maná works, both directly and through institutional partnerships, to support communities in incorporating better production methods, developing, for example, new technologies for mini-plants where a large part of the inputs are processed. These changes help to add value to the products of the Forest, which can also be offered to other companies, enabling a considerable increase in income. In addition, it is an element that even impacts the food security of these populations, since these methods often bring gains in storage and preservation of food, which can be consumed in times of drought, such as the one currently experienced in the Amazon region, for example.

Direct inclusion in the business

The big difference in Mazô Maná's model, however, is the initiative to bring traditional populations into the business in a very direct way. To this end, 10% of the company's share capital was reserved for associations that bring together these groups. The first share concession contract should be signed soon, with an association that already acts as a supplier to Mazô Maná.

How to buy Mazô Maná Supershake

The Amazon Rainforest Supershake , the first product developed by Mazô Maná, is available on the website www.mazomana.com.br . It is delivered throughout Brazil, bringing the combination of 14 ingredients from the Amazon directly to your home, wherever it may be.