In brief
Cashews are a widely consumed fruit in Brazil, with their nuts exported across the globe. They are also a staple ingredient in the country’s juice industry, but this comes with a wasteful consequence: although the liquid is utilised, much of the fruit’s fibre is discarded, along with its valuable nutrients.
This is where Amazonika Mundi identified a business opportunity, upcycling the fruit fibre into a base for its plant-based products. Its latest creation, Tirinha Amazonika – an alternative to chicken tenders – is also flavoured with diverse and lower-impact ingredients from Brazil’s unique ecosystems, including the Amazon.

How It Started
The inspiration behind Amazonika Mundi's first product incorporating circular design for food principles, the Amazonika Burger, came from an unexpected source: music. During a brainstorming session, the founders, Thiago and Bruno Rosolem, were listening to Alceu Valença’s “Morena Tropicana,” a song that referenced "cashew meat." This sparked the idea of using cashew fibre as a core ingredient for a plant-based product. To make this idea a reality, Amazonika Mundi partnered with Embrapa (Brazilian Agricultural Research Corporation) to develop its first product, a burger from upcycled cashew fibre.
This collaboration, which led to a shared patent, was also used in other plant-based products, such as meatballs and dumplings, and now, chicken tenders, with their soon-to-launch product, Tirinha Amazonika – which is being developed as part of the Big Food Redesign Challenge.
What’s happening?
The company already has several products on supermarket shelves across Brazil and aims to expand its portfolio further with its new chicken-like product. The development of Tirinha Amazonika is a collaborative effort spanning the country. The production process begins in Northeast Brazil, where cashew fibre is collected, treated, and prepared. This upcycled ingredient is then transported to Rio de Janeiro, where it is blended with Amazonian components to create the final product.
Amazonika Mundi is also part of Origens Brasil, a network of indigenous peoples, traditional populations, support institutions, community organisations and companies, that promote ethical business in priority conservation areas of the Amazon. Origens Brasil works like a bridge between companies to the producer communities, helping communities price and sell their products, and providing transparent information about the product to companies. By sourcing from this network, the company guarantees traceability and transparency of ingredients, thus promoting fair trade. For example, the patauá oil used by Amazonika Mundi, obtained through Origens Brasil, benefits 36 families directly and conserves 123 hectares of certified organic land.
Additionally, the company follows a “clean label” philosophy, ensuring that all ingredients used are natural and free from chemical additives.

Why it’s an example of the circular economy
Amazonika Mundi fully embraced the Circular Design for Food framework when designing Tirinha Amazonika, selecting ingredients that help nature to thrive. This approach is guided by four key opportunities: upcycled, lower-impact, diverse, and regenerative ingredients. The main components of Tirinha Amazonika—cashew fibre, patauá oil, and babassu flour—embody each of these principles.
Circular Design for Food Framework

A cornerstone of the company’s approach is upcycling. Cashew fibre, once regarded as a by-product of the juice industry, is now transformed into the primary ingredient for Tirinha Amazonika. This innovation not only eliminates waste but also creates new value from existing resources.
The use of low-impact ingredients reduces the product’s environmental footprint by replacing higher-impact alternatives. For example, Patuá oil is rich in unsaturated fats and can be a replacement for palm oil, the harvesting of which contributes to deforestation.
Similarly, Babassu flour is naturally gluten-free and nutrient-rich, and serves as a lower-impact replacement for wheat flour, avoiding the intensive farming and chemical inputs associated with conventional agriculture. In addition, the company serves as an example for others, encouraging the use of underutilised ingredients in their recipes. For instance, patauá oil, typically used in the beauty industry, is given a new purpose here as a key ingredient in the food sector.
Finally, Tirinha Amazonika integrates ingredients sourced from Amazonian biodiversity. By sourcing from Origens Brazil, Amazonika Mundi guarantees that these products come from practices that bring regenerative outcomes, promoting ecosystem resilience and supporting indigenous communities.
The company hopes that the success of Tirinha Amazonika signals a transformative opportunity for the food industry, encouraging other brands to explore upcycled ingredients and Amazonian biodiversity as key components of circular food design.
Lessons Learnt
Sourcing diverse, lower-impact ingredients in Brazil involves reaching remote areas, particularly in the Amazon, where only 14% of the 6.7 million square kilometers are used for agriculture. Despite accessibility challenges, the region’s biodiversity offers alternatives to high-impact ingredients. Companies can partner with organisations like Imaflora and the Origens Brasil network, which both work to connect companies with producing communities in remote areas in the Amazon. They streamline the process and help scale efforts.
Developing upcycled products requires innovative techniques, often involving costly and time-consuming processes. Partnerships with organisations that specialise in agricultural innovation, like Amazonika Mundi's joint effort with Embrapa, help overcome these challenges.