Excuse me, quinoa: Nestle brings queen of the Golden Berry to Brazil

São Paulo – Quinoa, Chia, cramberry, Goji berry, Blueberry, açaí... The so-called "superfoods" are more and more present at the table of Brazilians. Currently, the country is the fourth largest global consumer of healthy foods and moves US $35 billion per year. Attentive to this trend, Nestlé, the largest food group in the world, brings a new candidate to the shopping list: the "Golden Berry", better known in Brazil as "Physalis peruviana". The Andean fruit, close relative of tomato and bittersweet flavor, integrates a series of products that disembark from this month in the Brazilian market under the brand Nature ´ s Heart, of the Ecuadorean company Terrafertil. In September of last year, Nestlé bought a 60% stake in the business, which controls 90% of the global dry fruit processing. Planting is mostly done in Ecuador and Colombia by 3000 family farmers following ecological precepts. Founded in 2005, Terrafertil is managed by two of the three founding brothers, David and Raúl Bermeo. Mexico and Ecuador are the most important market of the brand, representing 70% of total revenues. But the company's products are also present in the United States, Colombia, Peru, Chile and the United Kingdom. The launch here is the largest in the history of the brand and the first made under the guardianship of Nestlé. "We come with a clear goal, transforming Brazil into one of our main markets, if not the main. We see that the Brazilian consumer is seeking products like those of Nature ´ s Heart, following a global trend. What is lacking is a greater offer, and a brand like ours, with multicategories, promotes this, "says the website EXAME Raúl Bermeo. Rich in iron, fiber and potassium, the "golden Berry" is the Joker ingredient in the company's products. The Nature ´ s Heart debuts in the Brazilian market with a diversified portfolio of 20 products, all plant based (of vegetable origin), which also serves the growing loam of vegetarian products. It has from non-dairy beverages in varieties such as almond, coconut and rice to mixtures of dried fruits and chestnuts. Other superfoods that comprise the portfolio also include Spirulina (seaweed that can be used as supplement) and cocoa nibs (roasted fruit seeds).