CEO Note: Launching our Brazil supermarket campaign
By Glenn Hurowitz, Founder & CEO
I’m happy to share a long-awaited moment: the launch of Phase 2 of our campaign to end deforestation for beef in South America, with a new campaign on one of Brazil’s top retailers, Grupo Mateus.
Beef production in Brazil is the single largest driver of deforestation in the world, and one of the largest sources of climate pollution, so it’s been a top priority for years.
But for all the international attention the industry receives for the destruction it’s caused in the Amazon and beyond, 72% of beef is consumed domestically. That means in order to change it, Brazilian supermarkets need to be the focus, which is why our Brazil team has been laser focused on them – and now is starting a new campaign on one of the largest remaining supermarkets in Brazil that has failed to take even minimal action to address the sustainability of the meat it sells.
To share more, I’m passing the rest of this week’s update to the leader of our Brazil team, my colleague João Gonçalves. Over to you, João!
Olá, amigos.
I’m excited to share some of our progress. Phase 1 of our Brazil supermarket campaign was a big success: Carrefour, the country’s largest supermarket chain, acted to drive major beef suppliers like JBS, Minerva, and Marfrig to eliminate almost 1,000 suppliers linked to deforestation – sending a powerful signal across the agricultural frontier that engaging in ecosystem destruction or land-grabbing carried a serious risk of losing market access.
The company also agreed to address impacts from animal feed and boost its sales of animal-free protein as a way of addressing both deforestation and methane pollution.
But as ever, we’re not focused just on driving change with a single company, no matter how large – but transforming a whole industry.
Inside Our Grupo Mateus Campaign
In March 2026, a joint assessment by Mighty Earth and Brazil’s consumer defense institute Idec evaluated Deforestation- and conversion-free (DCF) commitments among leading retailers and meatpackers in Brazil. Major retailers like Carrefour, Assaí, and Pão de Açúcar have all adopted public commitments to eliminate deforestation from their beef supply chains, publish sustainability reports, and disclose their purchasing criteria. But Grupo Mateus – the third largest supermarket chain in Brazil, with more than 270 stores across ten states in Brazil’s North and Northeast – has none of these mechanisms in place. In fact, Grupo Mateus scored zero – the worst result in the assessment.
Unlike its peers, the company has also refused to meet to discuss developing a sustainability plan.
We decided to drill in more, and asked our network of Brazilian volunteers across the country to help. They collected more than 430 beef samples from 38 Grupo Mateus stores across eight states, tracking meat products using the “Do Pasto ao Prato” app from our allies at Trase.
The results are published in our new report, which found that meat sold in Grupo Mateus stores came from slaughterhouses linked to deforestation and forced labor. We combined this data with information from our own Rapid Response monitoring system in partnership with AidEnvironment. It’s already getting significant attention with a big article in Folha de São Paulo, one of Brazil’s most prominent newspapers. And several other publications have followed.
This report is just the first phase in a planned comprehensive grassroots and communications campaign across Brazil. We’re hoping this campaign sparks serious industry-wide progress for the Amazon and other ecosystems in Brazil, as well as the broader climate impact of beef.
If you’re in Brazil, would like to get involved or learn more, please join us at a roundtable discussion event scheduled for São Paulo Climate Week on the role of Brazilian supermarkets in deforestation (August 7 – register here!).
Thank you for all the support!
— João and Glenn
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