Following Dustin Poirier's casual admission of peptide use on Joe Rogan — "I wish I had this during my career" — the International Açaí Growers Association has released a 14-page statement clarifying that their product is, in fact, a fruit. "We are aware that the grappling community has been using our product name as a euphemism for approximately a decade," the statement reads. "We respectfully request they stop. Our growers in the Pará region are receiving very strange emails about cycling protocols and 'stacking açaí with creatine.'" The statement goes on to note that a standard açaí bowl contains approximately 210 calories, 6 grams of fat, and zero milligrams of synthetic testosterone — despite what "the jacked guy at the front desk of every competition" might imply. Industry analysts say the açaí market has seen a 340% increase in orders from zip codes containing IBJJF-registered gyms. "The correlation is real," said one researcher who asked not to be named. "But it's just breakfast. It's always been just breakfast." When reached for comment, a spokesperson for BJ Penn's açaí line said they were "unable to verify whether their product is or is not a peptide at this time" and referred all further questions to their legal team. The Growers Association closed its statement with a plea: "Please. We grow berries. We are berry farmers. Stop asking us about HGH." The crisis, according to IAGA Communications Director Fernanda Oliveira, reached a tipping point last Tuesday when a farmer in Belém received a DM on Instagram asking for "the competition blend — the one they use at Worlds." The farmer, 63-year-old João Batista dos Santos, grows açaí on a two-hectare plot he inherited from his father. He does not know what Worlds is. He does not know what a peptide is. He has never been inside a gym. "My grandfather called me crying," said Batista's granddaughter, Renata dos Santos, 24, who manages the farm's social media. "He thought he was being accused of selling drugs. I had to explain that Americans think açaí is slang for steroids. He asked me if Americans are OK. I told him no." The IAGA statement includes a glossary section, printed on laminated cardstock and intended for distribution at all major Brazilian ports. It defines common terms the Association has been forced to learn, including "TRT" (not a berry variant), "blast and cruise" (not a farming technique), and "looking real thick, real juicy" (not, as initially believed, a compliment about their harvest yield). Ricardo Mendes, an agricultural economist at the University of São Paulo who has studied the açaí market for fifteen years, said the problem has created genuine supply chain confusion. "We had a distributor in Miami refuse a shipment because the buyer said the product 'didn't hit the same as last time,'" Mendes said. "The shipment was açaí. It was the same açaí. It has always been the same açaí. It is a berry." Mendes added that a second distributor in Southern California received a complaint that their açaí "wasn't pharmaceutical grade," a designation that does not exist for fruit. The grappling community's response to the statement has been mixed. A poll on a popular BJJ forum found that 62% of respondents believe açaí is "just a berry," while 23% selected "it's complicated," and 15% chose the write-in option "nice try, USADA." Carlos Ferreira, a BJJ black belt and gym owner in San Diego who was not involved in the statement, said he understood the confusion. "Walk into any competition venue in the world," he said. "Look around. Now tell me those guys are eating berries." He declined to elaborate further. The IAGA has announced it will send a delegation to the 2026 IBJJF Pan Championships in Kissimmee, Florida, where they plan to set up a booth offering free açaí samples and educational pamphlets titled "It's A Berry: A Guide for the Grappling Community." The pamphlet features a diagram of an açaí palm tree with a large arrow pointing to the fruit and the words "THIS IS NOT A SYRINGE" printed in 72-point font. "We considered hiring a lawyer," Oliveira said. "But our legal team advised us that you can't sue an entire subculture for misusing the name of a fruit. So we're going with education." The IAGA also addressed, in Appendix C of the statement, a recent trend in which competition athletes have begun listing "açaí" in their social media bios alongside their belt rank and weight class. "We have documented 4,200 Instagram profiles that include the word 'açaí' followed by a syringe emoji, a flexed bicep emoji, or both," the document reads. "We would like to reiterate that our product is consumed with a spoon. Not a needle. A spoon." Batista, the 63-year-old farmer, has reportedly stopped checking his Instagram. His granddaughter now screens all messages. The most recent one, received Monday, read: "Bro do you ship to the US? Need enough for a 12-week cycle. Competing in September." She did not respond. The farm's next harvest is expected in August. It will be açaí. It will be a fruit. The Growers Association has asked that no further questions be directed to their farmers, their families, or their livestock, the last of whom have also, inexplicably, begun receiving DMs.