Sustainability – What does it mean?

Written by Ed Nichols (Skanda), co-founder


Holy cow! Am I the only one who’s blown away with how much talk I hear of sustainability? Words like recyclable, compostable, and sustainabily have become serious buzzwords. How awesome is that? Have you ever wondered what sustainability is really about?

If you look the word up, sustainability in the general context is about the degree to which a given system can maintain productivity for an indefinite amount of time. Such a cool concept, eh? Makes me think of things like cold fusion and perpetual motion magnetic motors. Perhaps it’s idealistic optimism but I really think we’re starting to figure some things out. I just saw something the other day about a newly invented paint that somehow cleans polluted air and yet another paint technology which uses nano-solar cells to produce solar energy from sufaces. Imagine combing these two technologies… Producing energy and cleaning the air via the paint on the walls and roofs of our buildings and roads! It’s going to be fun and fascinating to see how innovations like these are applied and integrated into our everyday lives.

* The industrial age was certainly an important era in human evolution but I think the sustainable age will be downright blissful! Here’s to balance, harmony, love, compassion, acceptance, peace and effortlessness power!

Your Friend,
Skanda

First Encounters with Açaí

Written by Richard Matusow, Director of Sales

Açaí is one of those rare products that people get passionate about and remember the details of their first encounter.

In 2001, I hadn't been in Rio for more than a few hours when I saddled up to a corner juice bar to try the purple stuff that everyone had told me about. Since I couldn't pronounce it, I just pointed to someone next to me and in broken portuguese asked for "um desses". Over my 9 months in Rio, Açaí became an integral part of my daily routine. The more I ate bowls of Açaí with granola and drank the refreshing smoothies, the more I wondered what the heck the stuff was. I incessantly asked juice bar owners where it came from and what it looked like in it's natural state. The stories ranged from it's a fruit from northeast, period, to it grows on bushes on the Amazon River. Sometimes I wonder if people outside the US that have been introduced to Açaí by people like us know more about it, than the regular juice bar customers on the beaches in Brasil.

Amazon Jungle comes to NYC - February 8, 2008

Written by Leah Howe


It was a blessed day in New York City, in February, when the Amazon Jungle made a warm and lush 3 hour debut. Heating our bodies, bringing attention to climate change and the importance of sustainable business ventures as investment opportunities (via DWS Scudder), and giving us at Sambazon a chance to reach out to hundreds of people in the financial district with some education and free organic açaí smoothies and juices.

The event was a wonderful success, drawing 4 or 5 times the amount of people expected to attend (about 1400). Most of the attendees were financiers interested in investment opportunities with companies who are working toward a green and sustainable future. With Capoeria performances, a live dj, parrots, an anaconda snake, a very intimate space, and just a few other sponsors there to share information and sample products, there was plenty to keep the attention of the jungle goers.

There was a magnificently warm and inquisitive climate in people’s attitude toward learning about açaí and about our sustainability mission in the Amazon. Although there were many attendees who were familiar with our products there were equally as many who were not. All were thrilled at the opportunity to know more about a company who is not only a purveyor of incredibly nutritious and delicious açaí products, but a company who is “putting their money where their mouth is!”

Cheers to that!
Leah


And just in case you were wondering, all greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions generated in the course of the event were offset by an investment in a high-quality emission reduction project, the Bagepalli Biomas Project. The Bagepalli project is an UNFCCC registered CDM project under the Kyoto Protocol.

What makes a great company, Part 2?

Written by Ed Nichols (Skanda), co-founder

We all experience inspiration from time to time. Be it from reading about the stories of others successes or simply observing small acts of selflessness amongst our fellow man. In continuing our exploration of what makes a great company great, I’d like to explore the concept of inspiration and aspiration.

During our maiden trip to Brasil in the month of December in the year 2000, we were overwhelmed with Brasil’s richness of spirit. The people, the food, the lifestyle were all so deeply laden with a deep sense of passion. Brasil’s richness of spirit inspired us more and more deeply as our month long vacation unfolded.

How does inspiration work? Anything which awakens our heart and instills passion and motivation to evolve and grow.

What is aspiration? The resulting longing of the soul towards something greater as a result of inspiration.

Some related words and subjective elaborations born of direct experience are offered for further contemplation of this blog’s primary topic of inspiration/aspiration:

• Dharma – The practical manner in which one’s aspirations take shape. The path one takes as a result of their aspiration.
• Karma Yoga – When ones’ work is motivated by a sincere aspiration and is exercised in a spirit of selfless service.
• Miracles – It has been said that when your aspirations transcend selfish motivations and align with nature’s own flow, they cease to be illusive and happen spontaneously.

Your friend,

Skanda

Get with the Pleasure of Eating Açaí

written by Jeremy Black, marketing dude


I have always been copied on all the emails that come to our website and nothing is cooler than hearing from people just after returning from a trip to Brasil where they first had Açaí and got fully addicted to it (the same way we did- and as a result started this company). They are always so grateful that they could find Açaí in a local store or order it from our website.

For them (and for us) it wasn’t about the antioxidants, the healthy omegas or even that Oprah called it the #1 superfood (don’t get me wrong- all that stuff is great). But you don’t hear about that stuff in Brasil when you fall in love with Açaí, they just tell you it’s “good for you”- and your body tells you the same.

I never get tired of Açaí, like I never get tired of red wine or chocolate. I’ve been told it’s because of the complexity of the flavor and the satisfaction you get from the omega fats. And that all makes sense, but I also think it’s because it just makes you feel good when you eat it. It makes you want to eat better cause you realize how good you can feel after eating something.

Every day I blend up smoothies or bowls and it’s a pleasure. My brother told me once (months before I even tasted Açaí for the first time) that it’s so good that when you get to the bottom of the bowl, you use your spoon to scrape up the very last drop at the bottom- and I always do. If you’ve never had a real-deal Brasilian style bowl of Açaí, I encourage you to get your hands on 2 packs of Original Açaí, 1/2 a banana and a splash of juice. Blend it up nice and thick and top it with granola and bananas- it’s truly amazing.

Blessings and good vibes- JB

Skanda Blog #1 – What makes a great company, Part 1?

With our day to day work continually evolving towards greater complexity, it’s easy to loose sight of our original guiding principals. I’d like to take a moment to reflect upon and explore the concept of Vision.

Sambazon was born of a sincere passion to share what we considered to be a true gift of nature. In our case this “gift of nature” was an exotic Brazilian palm fruit called Acai. This passion evolved from a simple passion to share our love of a special fruit into a vision to commercialize the fruit, utilizing it as a vehicle to drive preservation while providing the American consumer with a potent source of nutritional attributes to aid the preservation and sustainability of their own wellbeing.

The importance of Vision – We’re all blessed with great ideas from time to time. How many times in your life do you have “Ah-ha” moments, those great epiphanies, and moments of intense clarity? What prevents us from manifesting/actualizing these visions? A great yogi once explained to me that a visionary is simply “one who nurtures his/her vision”. Yogis strengthen their ability to visualize through specific visualization exercises and meditate to surrender their subconscious’ preoccupations to create an inner state of receptiveness.

It seems like every day science and the self-help community awakens a bit more to what is really a very simple concept: Energy follows consciousness and consciousness follows energy. In other words, re-occurring thoughts eventually lead to action, actions repeated become patterns, patterns become habits and the sum of all our patterns and habits become our character. To put it even more simply, what happens in our life happens first in our head.

So how do we prevent great ideas from falling to the wayside? Nurture your vision! See it from every angle. Experience your vision with all your senses. When your vision is firmly rooted in your consciousness, the energies necessary to manifest it will align in front of you. Not such a different concept to a law of nature which most question little, I.e., for every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction.

In closing, I’d like to leave you with a practical affirmation to support you in your practice to nurture your own visions: “if you don’t give up, you’re bound to succeed”.

Your friend,
Skanda

Save Trestles

What: Crucial Vote to Save Trestles at California Coastal Commission

When: Wednesday, Feb. 6, 2008. Please arrive by 9A.M.

Where: Del Mar Fairgrounds at Wyland. Hall 2260 Jimmy Durant Blvd. Del Mar, CA 92014

Just off the I-5 in the Del Mar at Via de la Valle.

Check the destruction...

Amazon in NYC

NFL's Tony Gonzalez & his Acai Smoothie in the Wall Street Journal

Sambazon on INC 500 America's Fastest Growing Private Company List

We were ranked #186 for fastest growing companies! Read the article...

Sambazon Re-Mix

Thanks to our friend, Sambazon video footage, interviews and more have been revived with the "SAMBAZON and Geisan Varne project."

Thanks Bob for being such a great ambassador of Sambazon!

Bob drinks acai for energy...We can't help it if that energy makes him a skateboarding badass! Check out his shameless promotion for Sambazon on the nationally televised DEW TOUR. We caught it and posted on youtube for your viewing pleasure.

Sambazon Promotes Green Transportation in NYC

New York City is one of the greatest cities on earth but hot humid days in the concrete jungle in the summer months can be a little rough on your lungs. Sambazon is powering a fleet of bicycle based 'rickshaws' you can hire and ride as you would a taxi...and get a free sambazon smoothie as a token of our appreciation for contributing to a cleaner + greener Manhattan!! A bike is the most energy efficient vehicle on the planet AND getting a ride home by the rickshaw bikers is a whole lot of fun and often quicker than sitting in a cab in gridlock!! New Yorkers and Big Apple visitors look for our rickshaws all summer long.

This Green Ride Powered by the Purple Berry!

Sambazon Ambassador Jon Rose

Jon Rose, pro surfer and Sambazon ambassador has perfected his bowl and is sharing it with you! Enjoy the video recipe & thanks Jon for sharing your acai secrets.

If you think you can do it better.. .DO IT! Get your video recipe on youtube and email the link to recipes@sambazon.com.

Sambazon Tribal Tour

Sambazon's Tribal Tour has continued to rock its way from one music fest to another through-out the US - serving up healthy and delicious acai to festival revelers at FarmAid at Randall's Island in NYC , mega-fest Austin City Limits in Austin, TX and Earthdance in Laytonville, CA. In addition to lineup of legends that included Willie Nelson, John Mellencamp, Neil Young and Dave Matthews, Farm Aid was a great opportunity for Sambazon to be a part of the Good Food Movement by helping raise awareness about the loss of family farms and raise funds to keep farm families on their land. Sambazon brought an added twist to the offering with new awareness of family farmers in the Amazon. And ACL and Earthdance was outstanding as ever with festival-goers and musicians who couldn't get enough of Sambazon. Next up we're at Greenfest in Washington D.C. October 6-8 and The Echo Project - a first ever event in Atlanta, GA with a great line up including The Killers and many others. October 12-14. NorCal Sambazon fans - we'll also be at Hardly Strictly Bluegrass festival -a free fest in Golden Gate Park that draws a great crowd.

Check out dates and info here and for photos on the road here!.

Pictured above - Fans beat the Texas heat at ACL with Sambazon açaí!

Athlete Profile: Rob Machado

Rob has been a fan since we first brought açai to the US back in 2000. He's one of the coolest guys you'll ever meet, environmentally conscious (w/ his own organic lines coming out w/ Reef and Hurley), a dedicated father, musician and arguably the most stylish surfer on the planet.

If you get a chance to see "Surf's Up" this summer Rob (along w/ good friend Kelly Slater) got casted as one of the animated penuins and helped the filmakers make sure the animation was all legit.

We're proud to have him as one of our brand ambassadors. Rob claims Sambazon products "are the real deal" and if you know Rob you know that's saying alot. Besides winning the Pipe Masters and multiple US Opens, last month he led Team USA in in the X-games where they won the gold medal- Congrats! Rob loves to blend up bowls for his girls at home and his favorite smoothie is the Supergeens Revolution.

Thanks for all the support brother!