By Clara Machado
Gosto da Amazônia is a brand collectively created to promote the commercialization of wild management pirarucu (Arapaima). From the brand’s slogan “flavor that preserves the forest”, Gosto da Amazônia is committed to the promotion of conservation, fair and transparent trade and local economic development. The pirarucu products that the brand commercializes comes from the Coletivo do Pirarucu, which brings together grassroots associations, NGOs, government agencies and international cooperatives that implement participatory management in thirteen different territories in the Brazilian state of Amazonas. The Rural Producers Association of Carauari (ASPROC) coordinates the commercial arrangements so that they are fair, sustainable and inline with the solidarity economy.
About 90% of the managed pirarucu is sold within the state of Amazonas itself, but last year it arrived in Rio de Janeiro, where it is already included in the menu of several restaurants, and this year it reached São Paulo. The sale to hotels, bars and restaurants is carried out through the Biobá platform, and the end consumer can find belly cuts, known by the Amazonians as “ventrecha”, and the loin cuts at Instituto Chão and Instituto Feira Livre, both non-profit associations that work with organic products and solidarity economy in the city of São Paulo. The commercialization of pirarucu managed in other regions of the country is an important step towards the valorization of managed wild fish, which is much higher in quality when compared to fish farming in terms of nutrition, flavor and social benefits. Gosto da Amazônia is an initiative of fundamental importance to ensure that pirarucu can be sold at a fair price, benefiting managers who provide an immeasurable service to protect the forest and the quality of life in traditional communities. Visit the Gosto da Amazônia website or Instagram profile to find out all the establishments that sell managed pirarucu in Rio de Janeiro and São Paulo.
