Diana Calleja from Amazonia is with NTPagesTV telling us all about the Fairtrade registered acai berries they import directly from the Amazon rainforest.
The written transcript of the interview is provided below.
Natural Therapy Pages: I'm Mel from NTPagesTV and I'm here with Diana, who is representing Amazonia. How are you, Diana?
Diana Calleja: I'm very well, thank you! It's nice to meet you, Mel.
NTP: Tell me about the company and what they do.
DC: First of all, they basically bring in the acai berries from the Amazon rainforest in Brazil. They own sections of the rainforest, and in that way they're actually preserving the rainforest. There's no plantation here, no trees that get chopped down. The rainforest is preserved intact, and the berries are harvested by hand using the locals, so we're employing the local people. Then, we do some very slight processing on site. Basically, just pick the berries, pulp them, freeze them, bring them into the country, and do the rest of the processing, which is again very minimal. Freeze drying and crushing and packaging and making a very high potency berry available to people in Australia, and also overseas.
The feature of acai berry at Amazonia Acai Berry is that it has the highest levels of antioxidants of any other known source. We've had our aura curating certified, tested in a laboratory. Our aura curating outstrips all other known sources. People are getting a very high potency food – whole food – organic food that's going to help with things like energy levels and immune system and many, many other health benefits.
It's a great company to work for. It's a young company. The guys that own the company are really high-energy people and really devoted to producing and providing a really great product, and helping the planet as well.
NTP: So, you've got it in various forms?
DC: We do. The most popular would be our powder form. That's a typical tub of acai powder. You mix it up with water as we've got here. We've mixed it up with purified water on one end, and we've mixed it with juice just to take into account varying tastes. Just to show you the powder… this is the pure ecosystem of the Amazon on that spoonful. See how rich it is? Beautiful, deep purple colour, and that's a heaped teaspoon that's equivalent to two and a half planets of blueberries in terms of antioxidants.
NTP: Does it taste alright?
DC: It tastes neutral, basically. People compare the look of it to coffee, and the taste of it dissolved in water, for example, is a bit like tea. As well as antioxidants, it has a whole host of vitamins, minerals, amino acids, coenzyme Q10, omega 3, 6, 9.
NTP: Oh, wow! So do you feel the difference?
DC: Absolutely! I've been taking it every day, twice a day, for two years.
NTP: I know there are some other acai products on the market. How does it compare?
DC: We don't like to really compare to other companies. We will just say regarding our own company that we've put a huge effort into ensuring that this is a quality product. It is fair trade. We're helping the local Amazonian people and that when the product arrives to the consumer, all the nutrition of the original berry, as it is on the tree, is locked in. We've had that certified.
NTP: Sounds like a fantastic product! I think I need to get my hands on some, you got yummy chocolates and everything.
DC: I was mentioning the powder form that comes in capsules for people who might be mobile, travelling. It comes as a puree. It comes as one of three flavours of health bars, which have won an award for the most nutritious bar in Australia by Health & Nature magazine. And also, there are vegan and raw bars. They're gluten-free and they're almost one hundred percent organic. We're also launching at the show our organic dark chocolate, which has acai all through it.
NTP: Do you have a website we can go to for more information?
DC: Absolutely! It's www.purpleberry.com.au. People can research all the science behind the acai berry, as well as all the products that we have available, and they can order online. And, it's free delivery anywhere in Australia.
NTP: Thank you so much for your time and I hope you enjoy the show.
DC: Thank you! Lovely speaking to you.
Originally published on Jun 14, 2011
