Most raw materials cost less than the final consumer-facing good made from those raw materials, because of all the costs that go into turning the raw materials into a useful product to sell to customers - why should ground acai be any different? If those people climbing acai trees in Brazil know what acai costs in the US or know that the product they have is better quality than what gets exported to the US, they can in principle use this information to create a better or cheaper acai export business than the people they're currently selling their ground acai to and undercut them.
I think you vastly misunderstood the story. These people sold a finished, packaged product to local markets. You can't excuse paying them <$2 for a $100 worth of sambazon just because you switched labels and shipped/distributed to US markets.
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Most raw materials cost less than the final consumer-facing good made from those raw materials, because of all the costs that go into turning the raw materials into a useful product to sell to customers - why should ground acai be any different? If those people climbing acai trees in Brazil know what acai costs in the US or know that the product they have is better quality than what gets exported to the US, they can in principle use this information to create a better or cheaper acai export business than the people they're currently selling their ground acai to and undercut them.
I think you vastly misunderstood the story. These people sold a finished, packaged product to local markets. You can't excuse paying them <$2 for a $100 worth of sambazon just because you switched labels and shipped/distributed to US markets.