Brazil's Ceasas moved R$ 68.7 billion in 2025

Brazil's wholesale supply centers sold 16.6 million tonnes of fruit and vegetables in 2025, worth R$ 68.7 billion. The figures come from Prohort, the program of the National Supply Company (Conab) that tracks 54 Ceasas across the country, and were released on July 28, 2026. Volume was practically flat, down 0.82% from 2024, and Conab's explanation is the weather: adverse conditions reduced supply and kept prices high.

What happened

Prohort's annual report shows where the country's fresh food changes hands. Ceagesp, in the city of São Paulo, led with 2.99 million tonnes and R$ 13.9 billion in business, followed by Juazeiro, in Bahia, Contagem, in Minas Gerais, and the Ceasa of Rio de Janeiro. The Southeast concentrated more than half of the volume and value: 52% of the tonnes and 54% of the money, according to the summary published by CNN Brasil.

Vegetables fell 2.8% in volume. Among the 26 largest centers, six recorded higher vegetable sales, led by Rio Branco, in Acre, which grew almost 45%. On the fruit side, the same survey recorded a 19.7% rise in exports, to about 1.3 million tonnes and US$ 1.56 billion, with the European Union among the main destinations and mangoes, melons and citrus in the lead.

Why it matters

Prohort is one of the few public, continuous and national sources on the wholesale fresh-food market. It records volume, origin and the prices paid at the centers, which makes it the most solid basis for anyone who wants to know what a box of tomatoes is worth in Contagem or a kilo of bananas at Ceagesp.

At the same time, the report reveals an asymmetry. R$ 68.7 billion passes through the market pavilions every year, but price information reaches those who plant too late. The family farmer, who according to IBGE's 2017 Agricultural Census accounts for 77% of rural establishments, often finds out the price of a load after it has already been sold. The drop in volume in 2025 because of the weather also shows how exposed this income is: one untimely rain changes the harvest and the year's cash flow.

In Bairo's view

For Bairo Leandro Gonzalez Martinez, the Prohort report is a portrait of the place where he decided to work. In his reading, the supply center at four in the morning is the country at work, with trucks arriving from the interior and prices forming in minutes, but still with growers negotiating in the dark.

Bairo argues that public CEASA and Conab data should stop sitting in reports and start guiding the negotiation at the moment it happens. For him, a direct connection between grower, trader and buyer, with a reference price visible before the truck is loaded, is what turns statistics into bargaining power. In his view, price information is not a luxury; it is the first financial tool of those who produce.

Where this meets the ecosystem

CEASA Bank was born from this reality. It is an agribusiness financial platform, founded by Bairo, that operates on the infrastructure of an authorized institution; it is not a bank authorized by the Central Bank. The core proposal is a niche artificial intelligence that organizes CEASA and Conab data and suggests a price range, leaving the decision with the grower or the trader.

Starting from the quote, the design envisions invoices issued in minutes, an account and card machine offered through an authorized institution, and the record of every sale as the financial history of whoever made it. Instituto CEASA, another front founded by Bairo, proposes using the surplus from these same centers to produce long-lasting food.

Sources

• Conab, "Comercialização de frutas e de hortaliças nas Ceasas brasileiras totalizam 16,6 milhões de toneladas em 2025" (Fruit and vegetable sales at Brazilian Ceasas total 16.6 million tonnes in 2025), 07/28/2026: gov.br/conab
• Conab/Prohort, "Centrais de Abastecimento: comercialização de frutas e hortaliças 2025" (Supply Centers: fruit and vegetable sales 2025) (PDF report): gov.br/conab
• CNN Brasil, "Comercialização de hortigranjeiros recua 0,82% em 2025, diz Conab" (Produce sales fall 0.82% in 2025, says Conab), 2026: cnnbrasil.com.br
• IBGE, 2017 Agricultural Census, family farming (77% of establishments): censoagro2017.ibge.gov.br

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