July 28 2020

Projeto – Acai

The Amazon is a vast region that spans across eight rapidly developing countries: Brazil, Bolivia, Peru, Ecuador, Colombia, Venezuela, Guyana, Suriname, and French Guiana – an overseas territory of France. The Amazon rainforest has long been recognised as a repository of ecological services not only for local tribes and communities but also for the rest of the world. It is also the only rainforest that we have left in terms of size and diversity (until it caught fire in early 2020; the damage due to that fire is enormous.).

For millennia, humans of South America have used insects, plants and other organisms in the region for a variety of uses; and that includes agriculture, clothing and, of course, cures for diseases. Scientists believe that less than half of 1% of flowering plant species have been studied in detail for their medicinal potential. As the Amazon rainforest biome slowly shrinks in size, so does the richness of wildlife found in its forests, along with the potential use of plants and animals that remain undiscovered.

Açaí (Ah-sigh-ee), a berry found in Amazonia and is so useful but only known to the traditional tribes’ men and women of the Amazon for thousands of years. The Açaí berry is an inch-long, reddish-purple fruit, 80% of its size is occupied with seed but rest 20% flesh and skin is loaded with antioxidants, nutrients, and fibres. The Açaí Berry comes from a palm that has a long thin trunk up to 25m high with a group of branches at the top from which hangs ribbon-like leaves. Learn more about Açaí Berry from the Video below.

Projeto Açaí started years back in Dubai and continues to be driven by the dream of sharing the magical taste and nutritional benefits of Açaí from the Amazon and directly contributing back to the local communities who harvest the berries in the Pará region of Brazil. This ethical sense in the business brings sustainability to society and environment as there is no corruption in the process, and you get the supreme quality food on your plate when in Projeto Açaí. It only has a 24-hour life span in which the properties of the juice of Berries are still active. The acai berries must be loaded into baskets and onto boats soon after picking. It’s then frozen to retain all of its properties and sent to us here in Abu Dhabi. The Frozen berries, when blended, gives a hint of sweet chocolate and sourness of berries which is a unique combination to taste.

The blended berries are used to develop the Bowls and Jars in an Instagrammable manner and taste best when consumed fresh. The organic sunflower bread, excellent quality breakfasts, and fresh salads make Projeto Acai a place for fitness lovers, surfers, yogis, martial artists, and everyone else conscious about how they fuel their bodies.

The continuously playing tracks that include Brazilian, Reggae, Chillout, Rock, Hip Hop & pretty much everything that’ll make you want to stick around make the dining experience pleasant and memorable (Follow their playlist on Spotify ‘projeto.acai’). The Artwork hand-painted by Dubai based Brazilian artist Tarsila Schubert is outstanding and make you click as many photos as you can.