At a Glance
Location: Bogotá, Colombia
Impact Areas: Supplier Inclusion, Environment
People Supported:
Indigenous Peoples, Afro-Colombian Communities, Smallholder Farmers, Rural Communities
NESsT program: South America Accelerator
Joined NESsT Portfolio:
2026
selvanevada.co/
Overview
Across Colombia’s biodiversity-rich regions, forests hold immense potential to sustain local livelihoods. Yet for many rural communities, this potential remains out of reach. With limited access to stable buyers, infrastructure, and technical support, small-scale produces often struggle to meet the demands of formal markets. As a result, they are forced to sell at lower prices to intermediaries, limiting their incomes and pushing them toward more harmful activities that put increasing pressure on the forest.
Selva Nevada was founded in 2007 to make it viable for rural communities to earn a sustainable living from the forest, while protecting it. The Bogotá-based enterprise sources native and wild Amazonian fruits, such as açaí, copoazú, and other tropical varieties, from 11 rural producer associations located in high-biodiversity territories across the country’s Amazon, Pacific, Orinoquía, Andean, and Caribbean regions. Many of these producers are Indigenous, Afro-Colombian, or rural families living in remote areas with limited infrastructure and few stable income opportunities.
Rather than one-off purchases, Selva Nevada builds lasting commercial partnerships with these communities. Through formal purchasing agreements and consistent demand across seasons, producers gain a dependable source of income, allowing families to plan ahead, invest in their livelihoods, and build economic stability over time.
Selva Nevada’s work goes beyond buying forest products, and its team provides hands-on technical support to help producers improve harvesting practices, post-harvest handling, food safety, and quality control, supporting producers to improve their crops and meet the requirements of formal markets.
Once collected, the fruits are processed into value-added products including ice cream, frozen pulps, beverages, concentrates, and pre-mixes, at Selva Nevada’s facility in Bogotá. These products are then sold to restaurants and hotels, through branded retail shops, and increasingly to international buyers.
At the same time, Selva Nevada’s mission ties sustainable income directly to conserving the forest. The fruits it sources are either wild harvested under sustainable practices or grown in agroforestry systems over approximately 4.500 hectares of forest. These efforts maintain forest cover, protect biodiversity, and supports healthier soils and water systems. By creating consistent commercial demand for forest-friendly products, Selva Nevada gives communities a direct economic reason to keep forests standing, in regions where the alternative is often deforestation.
Results & Impact
500+
small-scale farmers engaged across 11 rural producer associations
44%
of Selva Nevada’s suppliers are women
4,500
hectares of forest and agroforestry systems supported
“Selva Nevada was founded to create sustainable economic opportunities for rural communities [...] Through our partnership with NESsT, we aim to expand access to international markets, increase purchases from rural communities, and improve the efficiency and productivity of our processing plant in Bogotá. This will help us reduce operating costs, strengthen our competitiveness, and create greater economic opportunities for the communities we work with.”
NESsT Investment
With a proven track record of more than 15 years of operations, consistent revenue growth, and long-standing relationships with the communities it sources from, Selva Nevada is ready to scale its operations and impact.
Through a combination of grant and recoverable funding, NESsT is supporting the installation of a solar energy system at the company’s processing facility in Bogotá. This investment will help stabilize energy supply for cold-chain operations, which is critical for preserving the quality of its fruit-based products, while reducing costs and environmental impact. It also allows the enterprise to grow without needing expensive infrastructure upgrades.
Through technical support and mentoring, NESsT is also supporting Selva Nevada to access international market opportunities through participating in specialised trade fairs, adapting products and technical documentation for export markets, and building relationships with potential buyers. These steps will help validate demand and expand into higher-value markets in a controlled and sustainable way. Together, this support strengthens Selva Nevada’s ability to reach more producers, increase local incomes, and expand the market for biodiversity-based products.