Last year, the big thing in fruit beverages was pomegranate juice. Ads for Pom popped up everywhere, touting the benefits of the antioxidant-rich juice. There was even a dark chocolate-coated Pom flavored ice cream bar, a tasty but slightly schizophrenic blend of antioxidants and trans fats.

Pom's been riding high, but açai (“ah-sigh-ee”,) a berry that grows wild in the Brazilian rainforest, packs such a nutritional punch it could knock Pom off its perch. The Açai Supercharger smoothie is a hot seller at Jamba Juice bars, and açai juices from Sambazon and Bossa Nova are available in stores.

Until recently, dark purple acai berries did no more than color the occasional smoothie. Though the fruit's nutritional value makes the blueberry look silly, it’s found primarily in the Brazilian Amazon and has been slow to catch on in the US.

As of yesterday, acai is headed for the big time. Confident in the fruit's high concentration of anthocyanins, protein, fiber, omega-9 and omega-6 fatty acids, the Canadian natural foods group SunOpta announced that it will distribute acai pulp harvested by Sambazon Acai to food and beverage manufacturers throughout North America.