Fika Frio: Fruit Processing for Ice Cream and Pulp in Alagoas

Interview with Alberto Cabús, Director of Fika Frio

What kind of products does Fika Frio produce?

We have a particular concern with our base products. The main component of our products is fruit. Regional and tropical fruits have excellent characteristics and to be better used they have to be better grown and we are realizing that idea, so that these fruits can be as natural as possible. Fruits like caja, mangaba and soursop, which are typical, native fruits, are recognized by the public as regional fruits and the juice and ice-cream have flavors that are almost identical to these fruits’ flavors.

The flavors of our products distinguish themselves from the competition, because we process the fruits already frozen. Profiting from the cold chain, we freeze the fruits and then we process them. As we process them immediately, they have the necessary amount of cold to maintain their flavor as authentic as possible with the original flavor.

It means that the fruit is immediately frozen with the core still inside and then you process it, right?

We freeze the fruits to be processed and sometimes we do a mixture: one part frozen and one part natural. When you have a cooling process, you prevent the growth of moulds in the process of fermentation and you can also maintain an authentic flavor.

Is this process used in other countries? Are you the only one practicing this method?

No, ours is different. High volume industrial processes presuppose that you bring the fruits from the field in major quantities, you select the fruits, verify them and you pasteurize them. You can then put them in barrels or pack them in liters or in fractions. We use a more artisanal method. We process 100gr fruit pulp thereby maintaining a flavor that is as very close to the original flavor. The product is healthier and the flavor is stronger. That pulp is used to produce ice-cream. We have 2 products: natural fruit pulp and ice-cream made out of the pulp or out of the fruit itself.

Is it possible to expand that artisanal process to other places? Have you ever thought of expanding?

That’s very interesting. We have to help the world to save the products. There is a person who is writing a master thesis here and there is a possibility of taking this process to São Tomé e Príncipe. There is a way to reach the rural producer and teach him how to produce food with the intent of reaching markets like Europe or the USA; it’s a market opportunity, but the volume we produce is not enough for exporting.

You talked about western markets but, in fact, the entire world is thinking about ways to make their products taste like the original. Is it possible to think about the process in a global scale?

Yes, of course. That’s an opportunity for African countries, for example, with a tropical climate. These countries have the possibility to make the product and export it. Also, with the temperature control and irrigation systems available, there is the possibility of producing everything in almost any part of the world.

What would you need to expand your business? If someone thought this was a great idea and wanted to associate with you, would that be possible? Would there be credit lines to do so, or you don’t feel at ease to go forth with such a business?

Actually, we are about to build a new plant. We are designing that plant in such a way that it can be replicated. It will be a different plant with new technologies, with new ways of producing with an emphasis on people: people that produce this type of food are happier and healthier; they include it in their daily life, etc. They will help to replicate this process even on the fields. From the fields – the people who plant, harvest – to the people that sell, to our own workers and finally to the consumers. If we work the entire chain, we will have a better view of a healthy product that, in some way, will help the context of sustainability. This is a different view of things but, as I said before, we still don’t produce enough to export. But, of course, we’ll soon have enough production to export, the conditions to make the necessary analyses and to meet other countries’ health requirements.

Where is Fika Frio present in Brazil?

We are present in Alagoas, Pernambuco, Paraíba, but our presence in the other States is still limited. There is a big market in other States: regional and national market. The question is: how can we do that? Maybe my ambition is not as big as of other businessmen. I think we can expand, but by taking small steps at a time. I don’t have the idea that we must expand at any cost, without any concern for people… I have to think about people, their lives and their relation to the company, so that the company can grow in a sustainable way, helping people to be happier.

Is that a concept that can be exported?

It’s a new concept. I’m getting used to it myself. It’s a change in life, in culture and in people’s way-of-life. Internally, we are slowly making people understand this new concept and when people grasp the idea, it will be easier to disseminate the company as a whole. This new concept is also based on spirituality. Not religiosity, but spirituality, where people have to understand that the fruits are a gift from nature, and that gift gives us the opportunity to produce these products, to improve them and make them available for consumers that need them, including schools, for example – to enable children in public schools to have access to a quality fruit ice-cream. That’s the vision we’ll have to work on in the future, because when we help people that are in need, we feel happier and life becomes harmonious and calm.

Is that a concept that will need governmental help? You were also a member of the Alagoas government so, in your point of view, will the governmental help be necessary in order to realize the project?

Alagoas is a very beautiful State with natural beauties that are boosting tourism in an interesting way. These unexplored places can influence people to come to Alagoas and live or invest here. But Alagoas has another side: it has an economy based on the sugar cane mono-cropping.

But we can’t complain about our past, we must build the future and our present will determinate our future. We are working on that clear idea and the government understands that concern with people, the question of how to bring development in a sustainable way, the question of making potable water, electricity and basic living conditions available for the population.

I believe that with the Sertão channel and with the irrigation of some areas, we’ll have opportunities for the expansion of fruit crops in order to cultivate needed products and to generate value and income.

All these factors indicate that the State will have a sustainable growth in the next few years.

Will that be feasible in the entire country?

At that level (the entire country) I have high concerns. The agricultural devastation to substitute forests with cattle raising has been worrying me a lot. We should be more concerned with the preservation of the environment and we are suffering from the effects of not preserving it: the prolonged drought that the Northeast is going through, for example. We have to think that if the future is not built from this moment forth, with the preservation of forests, springs and rivers, we will not have enough drinking water to feed human-beings in their future life. Our planet can’t sustain our development rate.

What is the vision for your company?

I believe in people. People move industries, governments and the universe. Sometimes, unrestrained actions cause damages. The important thing is that all actions are well thought. Every time we think about building something better, we are offering better opportunities to all. Anything should be done by having in mind the community. Before taking an action we must think about the others. If the action does not injure or affect in a bad way the others, we may proceed with it.

I look at the future from an optimistic perspective. Although there is so much violence and degradation all over the world, we have the opportunity to reorder life and walk into the future in a more peaceful way.