Acai Dreamzz is bringing something totally new to Toronto. At first glance, their menu seems populated with standard-sounding frosty summer treats like smoothies and sorbets. But as the truck’s name suggests, it’s their focus on the acai berry that provides Toronto food truck fans with a totally unique taste of Brazil.
In Canada, you might see acai in juice form at your supermarket, or in powder or capsule form at the health supplement store. But in Brazil, co-owner Frederico Cavanelas Pedrosa explains, they process the berry skins into a sorbet-like frozen fruit pulp and eat it as a refreshing snack.
“We eat it, normally, with banana, strawberries, granola and shredded coconut on top,” he explains. “You can always change the toppings – but that’s the classic way, the most common.”
When Pedrosa, together with a business partner, decided to start importing “authentic Amazonian acai” to Canada, the food truck was created to introduce the superfruit snack to a whole new slate of buyers.
“We decided that if we serve it first, that would be the best way to get it into the market,” he says.
Apparently, that tactic’s been working since they set up shop two months ago. “We’ve got a lot of returning clients who had never heard of acai before,” Pedrosa says.
“There’s even this guy who was asking me, ‘What are you going to do in the wintertime?’ I said ‘Well, we’re going to shut down.’ He said ‘No, are you serious? You can’t do that to me!’”
In addition to the traditional fruit-topped acai bowls, they’ve also added some smoothies to the menu (though, he adds, they’re not common in Brazil).
“We use acai, banana and strawberry, and blend it all together. We use a little bit of organic honey and ice, blend it all together, and the result is fantastic.”
Acai Dreamzz is set to dish out Brazilian treats at farmers’ markets and food events around Toronto; if you want to grab a bit to take home, Costa says their acai is also available in a few retail locations around the GTA, including SanRemo Bakery and Organic Garage – so you definitely won’t have to go without all winter.