Welcome to the Brazil AgTech Report (BAR) — a weekly summary of key news and insights shaping Brazil's agrifood and climate tech ecosystems.
In this week’s edition…
Brazil AgTech
🌱 Amai Proteins Brings Sweet Innovation to Brazil 🍭
🚀 AgroScout Eyes Brazil's Sugarcane Fields
🌾 AI Outperforms Agronomists on Brazil Farm 🤖
🐮 Startups Drive Tokenized Cows as Credit Collateral 🚜💰
Brazil Climate Tech
🌱 MyEasyFarm & MyCarbon Tackle CO₂e in the Cerrado 🌍
🌿Yara Launches Green Ammonia Production in Brazil 🔋
🚫 Local Authorities Challenge Soy Moratorium in the Amazon 🌳
🌱 Brazil Approves Bioinput Regulation 🚜
Brazil Ag M&A
🌍 Brazil’s Granja Faria Acquires Spain’s Hevo Group 💼
🚀 Food To Save Startup Makes First Acquisition to Triple Revenue 🌱
🚀 Kepler Weber Launches $100 Million Fund for Leasing and M&A 🌾
Brazil Risk
☕ Record Coffee Prices Trigger Trading Firm Woes📉🌍
📉 Brazil’s Fiscal Package Falls Short as Dollar Hits Record High 💵
🌾 AgroGalaxy Files Judicial Recovery Plan 💼✨
🌾 Soybean Loses Top Spot in Brazil's Export Revenue Ranking 🚢📉
Brazil Reward
🌍 Foreign Interest in Brazilian Land Soars 🌾
🌽 Brazil’s Corn Production Could Soon Surpass Soybeans 🚜
Premium Content (paid subscribers only)
👑Brazil’s 7 Largest Agricultural Players 🌽
🌾Brazil’s Top Agricultural Machinery Brands 🚜
🚢 EU-Mercosur Trade Agreement To Boost Brazil Meat Exports 💰
Brazil AgTech
🌱 Amai Proteins Brings Sweet Innovation to Brazil 🍭
Amai Proteins, an Israeli startup, is setting up its first factory in Brazil to produce Sweelin, a revolutionary sweet protein that reduces sugar in foods by up to 70%. The company chose Brazil for its affordable sugar supply, which is crucial for fermentation. 💡 Each kilogram of Sweelin replaces 3 metric tons of sugar, making it appealing for beverages and dairy companies…maybe not so much for sugarcane farmers!!. 🌎✨read more
🚀 AgroScout Eyes Brazil's Sugarcane Fields for Growth
AgroScout, another Israeli Agtech startup, is expanding its AI-powered crop monitoring into Brazil's sugarcane sector while seeking local investors (good luck with that!).🌾 With cutting-edge tools like drones and satellites, AgroScout detects pests and monitors crop health early. 🌍📡 Already working with giants like PepsiCo and São Martinho, the startup is in talks with a major sugar and ethanol company, hoping to seal a deal by April 2025, just in time for the sugarcane harvest. 🎯🍬read more
🌾 AI Outperforms Agronomists on Brazil Farm 🤖
Brazil’s Sierentz Agro farm, with over 250,000 acres in the north of the country, is leveraging artificial intelligence (AI) to transform farming practices on an impressive scale. 🚜✨ With AI analyzing thousands of hectares of crops, the farm has reported a 20% increase in yields 🌾📈 and a 30% reduction in water and fertilizer usage. 💧💡 AI tools precisely monitor soil quality, weather patterns, and crop health, enabling faster and twice as accurate decisions compared to traditional agronomist methods, according to CEO Cristophe Akii. 📊✨. read more
🐮 Startups Drive Tokenized Cows as Credit Collateral💰
Small and medium-sized Brazilian farmers, with support from agtech company CowMed and the blockchain platform Simple Token, can now use tokenized cows as collateral to access farm credit. 🪙🐄 By leveraging CowMed’s advanced livestock monitoring technology and Simple Token’s blockchain infrastructure, farmers can validate herd health and productivity, while reducing costs and facilitating access to lendors. 🌱📈 read more
Climate Tech
🌱 MyEasyFarm & MyCarbon Tackle CO₂e in Cerrado 🌍
French agtech startup MyEasyFarm has teamed up with MyCarbon, a Minerva Foods subsidiary, to monitor and reduce CO₂e emissions in Brazil's Cerrado biome. 🤝✨ The project targets over 100,000 acres, focusing on degraded pasture restoration and regenerative agriculture. 🌾🔄 Using MyEasyFarm's platform for monitoring and MyCarbon for carbon credit management, the collaboration aligns with Verra VM0042 standards to create scalable carbon credit frameworks. 💚📊 read more
🌿Yara Launches Green Ammonia Production in Brazil 🔋
Yara, a global leader in fertilizers, has inaugurated its first green ammonia production facility in Brazil, located in Cubatão, São Paulo state.🌱🔋 This facility utilizes biomethane supplied by Raízen, replacing natural gas to produce ammonia with significantly lower carbon emissions. The plant is expected to produce approximately 20,000 cubic meters of biomethane per day, accounting for about 3% of the volume consumed by Yara's ammonia manufacturing unit in Cubatão. 🚜✨read more
🚫 Local Authorities Challenge Soy Moratorium🌳
Local authorities in the Amazon have pushed back against the Soy Moratorium, calling for its prohibition. The moratorium, in place since 2006, bans soy purchases from deforested areas post-2008. 🌱❌ Officials argue it restricts economic growth and agricultural expansion, despite global demand for sustainable practices. 🌾🌍 The debate highlights the tension between environmental conservation and regional development priorities. 💡✨read more
The Soy Moratorium is a voluntary program set up by trading companies to not buy soybeans from any deforested areas post-2008, in a bid to improve image and market access for Brazilian soybeans, mainly to Europe. However some states like Mato Grosso are now threatening to remove fiscal incentives for companies adhering to the Moratorium, as they believe it goes above and beyond the local deforestation laws and harms local farmers. This now leaves trading companies in a difficult position and they are expected to meet next week to come up with a way forward.
🌱 Brazil Approves Bioinput Regulation 🚜
Brazil’s Senate and Chamber of Deputies approved legislation regulating the production and use of bio-inputs, including natural fertilizers and pest control agents, to promote sustainable agriculture. 🌾✨ The law simplifies adoption, boosts innovation, and fosters eco-friendly solutions, driving productivity and environmental care in agribusiness. Farmers and industry stakeholders have welcomed the regulations to bring clarity and more investments to the sector.🌍💡read more
Brazil Ag M&A
🌍 Brazil’s Granja Faria Acquires Spain’s Hevo Group 💼
The owner of Granja Faria, a leading Brazilian egg farm, has acquired Hevo Group, one of Spain’s largest egg producers, for €120 million from Asset Manager Cleon Capital, also assuming the Spanish company’s debts. The Hevo Group has annual revenues of around €180 million from 4 million birds producing 3 million eggs per day at 15 farms around Spain. Hevo Group currently has around 8% market share for egg production in Spain and the new owner aims to expand this to around 30% in coming years. 🌱✨read more
🚀 Food To Save Acquires Fruta Imperfeita to Triple Revenue
Brazilian startup Food To Save, dedicated to reducing food waste, has made its first acquisition by purchasing Fruta Imperfeita, a platform specializing in imperfect fruits and vegetables. 🌍✨This strategic move aims to triple Food To Save's annual revenue from $14 million to $134 million by 2025. The acquisition is expected to increase the volume of food saved from waste, targeting 7,000 tons by 2025, up from the current 3,800 tons. By integrating Fruta Imperfeita's operations, Food To Save plans to expand its reach to over 7,000 establishments, including restaurants and bakeries, enhancing its impact on reducing food waste in Brazil. The company has raised a total of $3.12 million over two funding rounds, with the latest being $2.86 million in November 2023. Investors include HiPartners Capital & Work and Spectra. 🥗💡read more
🚀 Kepler Weber Launches Fund for Leasing and M&A
Kepler Weber, a leader in grain storage and handling solutions, has announced a new $100 million fund to finance acquisitions and a new leasing operation to expand innovative storage options for farmers. 🌱💼 The company has mapped around 26 potential acquisitions up to 2030 and hopes to address the current storage deficit of over 100 million metric tons, which will only increase next year as Brazil is expected to produce a bumper crop of up to 170mmt.🌍✨ read more
Brazil Risk
☕ Record Coffee Prices Trigger Trading Firm Woes
Despite record coffee prices, many Brazilian trading companies face bankruptcy due to losses from short hedge positions. 💰❌ Major coffee trading firm Montesanto Tavares recently secured 60-day creditor relief, highlighting the sector’s strain, while other exporters are seeking debt renegotiations amid liquidity issues. Supply crises from droughts in Brazil and rains in Vietnam have driven prices up 70% this year, reaching the highest levels since 1977. 🌍☕read more
When trading companies and exporters buy coffee from Brazilian farmers (long position), they simultaneously take an opposite (short position) on a futures exchange (e.g., NY or London) to lock in prices. If coffee prices fall, they profit from their short position but incur losses on the long position when the coffee is delivered. Conversely, if prices rise, they lose on the short position but gain on the long position. The challenge arises because they must cover short-position losses immediately through margin calls, or risk losing their position. These margin calls, denominated in dollars, are particularly burdensome given Brazil's weaker exchange rate. While companies will recover the losses when they sell the physical coffee, many lack the liquidity to bridge the gap.
📉 Brazil’s Fiscal Package Falls Short as Dollar Hits Record High
Brazil's recently announced fiscal package has been criticized for failing to meet expectations and raising doubts about its effectiveness in stabilizing the economy. As a result, the dollar has hit a record high, closing at R$6.07 on Friday, as investors seek more stable markets. 🌍💱 These developments are expected to influence the Central Bank’s next steps, as Brazil’s monetary policy committee, the Copom, faces increasing challenges in managing inflation and exchange rate volatility. 📊✨read more
🌾 AgroGalaxy Files Judicial Recovery Plan ✨
📑Troubled Brazilian agribusiness company, AgroGalaxy, has presented a judicial recovery plan that proposes full repayment to supplier creditors, labor creditors, and partner rural producers, each with specific timelines. ⏳ It differentiates between creditors willing to continue commercial relationships and those who are not, offering more favorable terms to the former. 🌱💰Agrogalaxy has accumulated debts of over R$4.6 billion and declared bankruptcy back in September. Creditors now have 30 days to provide comments on the repayment proposal. 🤝 read more
🚢 Soybean Loses Top Spot in Brazil's Export Revenue Ranking
Soybeans, long Brazil's top export earner, have been overtaken in export revenue by other commodities, reflecting shifting global trade dynamics. 📊 This decline is attributed to lower international prices and reduced demand from key markets like China. 🇧🇷📉 Despite this, soy remains a critical component of Brazil's agribusiness sector, highlighting the need for diversification and resilience in export strategies. 🌍✨read more
Brazil Reward
🌍 Foreign Interest in Brazilian Rural Properties Soars 🌾
International interest in Brazilian rural properties has grown significantly, with the United States and Japan leading the way. 🇺🇸🇯🇵 Searches for properties by U.S. investors increased by 35%, while Japanese interest rose by 28% over the past year. 🌱💰 The appeal stems from Brazil’s vast agricultural potential, competitive land prices, and growing focus on sustainability, solidifying its role as a prime destination for global agribusiness investments. 🚜✨ In the past three years, Brazil's average price for agricultural land has nearly doubled to $4,453 per acre, while in Paraná, one of the most expensive regions, the average price exceeds $6,135 per acre. 💰 read more
🌽 Brazil’s Corn Production Could Soon Surpass Soybeans 🚜
Brazil’s corn production is forecasted to reach 131 million tons in the 2023/24 season, catching up fast with the soybean crop of around 160 million tons. 📈🌱According to Corn Producers Association, Abramilho, corn will soon surpass soybeans due to strong demand from local ethanol production, responsible for 60%, expanding animal feed demand, improved technology use, and a growing export market. 🌍✨read more
Thanks for reading. Comments and Feedback are appreciated.
KFG
Kieran Finbar Gartlan is an Irish native with over 30 years experience living and working in Brazil, primarily in the agricultural commodities space. He is Managing Partner at The Yield Lab Latam, a leading venture capital firm investing in early-stage agrifood tech startups. All views, opinions, and commentary expressed are strictly his own.