The acai berry is obtained from the acai palm, a kind of palm tree cultivated for its fruit, which is the acai berry, and for its hearts of palm. Worldwide demand for its berries has increased rapidly for years. Due to that, the acai palm is grown chiefly for that purpose.

Nearly all acai palm species are in Central and South America, with eight species are native from Belize, southward to Brazil and Peru, growing mostly in bogs and swamps. Acai trees are relatively tall, slender palms growing up to about fifteen to thirty meters, with pinnate leaves growing up to three meters long.

For the recent time, the acai berry is being marketed as a weight loss dietary supplement. And as a hot item in the health supplement shelves in stores, many online companies venture on this diet supplement.

The acai berries are also harvested as food. At three Caboclo tribes in the Amazon in Brazil, acai palm, along with acai berry, is described as the most important species of plant in their area, due that the acai berry makes up a major role in their daily diet, up to forty two per cent of their foods intake in total by weight.

In Para, a northern state in Brazil, acai berry is traditionally served with the acai pulp in gourds, which is called "cuias", with tapioca. Depending on preference, this prepared acai berry can be consumed either with sugar, rapadura, or honey. Acai berry has become popular in Brazil, where it was eaten as acai natigela, or acai in the bowl, usually mixed with granola. Also, acai berry is widely eaten as an ice cream flavour or juice in Brazil. Aside from those, acai berryis also used in flavouring liquor. And by the 1990’s, acai berry and juice are used worldwide as juice blends, sodas, and other available beverages.

And in the year 2009, the increasing popularity of the acai berry in the United States ushered more production for food supplements and weight loss diets, taking the supplements shelves in health stores by storm. Over time, demands for the acai berry are increasing.