Welcome to Camil's comments on the results of the first quarter of 2022. Now moving to slide two. We started fiscal year 2022 showcasing our positioning as a Brazilian multinational with one of the most comprehensive product platforms and leading brands in the Latin American food market. The results for this quarter show the strength of our brand and business model, with growth supported by profitability, agility, and synergies resulting from the integration of acquisitions to the portfolio. Now on slide three, we reached an EBITDA of BRL 245 million, with a margin of 10.2%. This reinforces our growth with profitability and represents the return to the historical levels of double-digit margins for the company.
We concluded the integration of four M&As carried out last semester with agility and good performance, entering three new categories, pasta, coffee, and healthy products, and a new country in Latin America. In addition, this result is the first to report the launch of União Coffee and our entry into the category with the reactivation of a brand that was once a market leader in the coffee segment in Brazil. Our profitability is also the result of a defensive business model and brands that are highly recognized by consumers. Even in a challenging macroeconomic scenario for some of the countries where we operate in Latin America, we continue to pass on prices and maintain assertive commercial strategies. As a result, we managed to improve profitability and increase sales of leading brands with a price premium in the market, such as the Camil brand, a leader in grains in Brazil.
Moving to slide four. Now we talk about our operating results. The highlight of the quarter, therefore, was the sequential sales increase in our main categories and annual growth in Uruguay, in addition to the entry into new categories in Brazil. Let's take a look at the categories, starting the analysis with the grains market. Now on slide five, we see that in rice, we posted a sequential volume growth of 1.4%. In an annual comparison, we had a strong base of volumes and prices in Q1 2021 due to the second wave of COVID-19, down from the previous year. However, year-on-year, the highlight of the category is the growth in sales of the Camil brand, which partially offset the drop in sales of lower pricing brands. Furthermore, regardless of the strong price base of 2021, it's worth noting that the price.
That the rice prices in the market remained at high levels, and today it trades above the BRL 73 recorded in the quarter. Slide six. In beans, we posted 6% sales growth year-on-year and 2% sequential. Our net prices in the period were up 17% due to the gradual rebound in profitability and increased sales from the Camil brand. On Slide seven, in sugar, there was a decline in sales when compared to the strong base of 2021. However, it's worth mentioning the sequential recovery after the stock out of the fourth quarter, leading to a 16% increase in sales volume and price increases above 25% in the period. Now Slide eight. As for fish, volumes were impacted by the lower availability of sardines in the period and difficulties in local and imported raw material origination.
This result was partially compensated by additional sales efforts in the tuna category, which posted sales growth and profitability resulting from price adjustments and a better sales mix. Net price was up 19% in the quarter. On slide nine, we present the performance of the new categories in Brazil. In pasta, we highlight the acquisition of Santa Amália, the fourth largest company in the pasta segment in the country, with leadership in the state of Minas Gerais, with over 40% of the pasta market share in the region. We had a quarter of sequential growth in volumes, reaching more than 25,000 tons of sales in the quarter in a scenario where prices were passed on to the market, which yielded good results in terms of profitability in the period. Besides pasta, the quarter posted the first result of the company's coffee business.
We entered the category at the end of March 2022, reaching volumes close to 2,000 tons and net coffee prices of 25 BRL per kilogram in this first quarter. Our current operation in Varginha, in the state of Minas Gerais, one of the main coffee producing regions, is capable of producing close to 36,000 tons per year. We are expanding this capacity to 60,000 tons later this year to ensure product availability and sales volumes. Slide 10. In the international segment, volume grew 44%, driven by sales growth in Uruguay, with greater availability of rice for exports in the year already reflected in first Q 2022 sales. In Peru, the sales volume of packaged rice and profitability continued to be pressured by the country's political and economic environment.
In Chile, we had a year-on-year reduction due to the political landscape and the impact of the country's inflationary hike, however, showing an improvement in the country's sequential volume growth. In Ecuador, we experienced our second quarter of consolidation for the group, still focusing on actions to improve efficiency and commercial structure. In Uruguay, we dealt with the integration of Silcom in the domestic market, a company focused on sales to the local market of a portfolio containing several healthy products. Both will allow the company to evaluate and implement efficiency and commercial actions, as well as gain more knowledge about a new category, which is that of healthy products. Slide 11. The profitability of the period and agile integration of the acquisitions were among the major achievements of the period.
We have made important expansionary moves in 2021 and believe that our extensive and proven experience gained over the years in acquisition integration can give us a unique position to identify acquisitions and integrate them quickly into our business model, delivering scale and efficiency gains. Now, to elaborate further on the financial performance of the quarter, I give the floor to Flavio. Go ahead, Flavio, you may proceed.
Thank you, Luciano. Starting the analysis of the financial performance, our gross revenue reached an all-time high of BRL 2.7 billion in the quarter and a net revenue of BRL 2.4 billion. Slide 12, revenue grew over 6% driven by the entry of the company's new pasta and coffee business in Brazil and the growth in market prices for beans, sugar, and fish.
In international, revenue was driven by the entry of the new acquisitions in Ecuador and Silcom S.A. in Uruguay and by increased sales volume in Uruguay. COGS also grew as a result of prices and the entry of new categories. SG&A grew 21%, accounting for 15% of the net revenue. The growth came from the increase in SG&A Brazil, attributed to the entry in the pasta category with the Santa Amália in Brazil with a good performance and an increase in freight and commission expenses in the period. It's worth noting that we achieved synergies in logistics, commercial, and other SG&A fronts amounting to about BRL 25 million in the year. In the international segment, SG&A also increased with the entry into the Ecuadorian rice market with the acquisition of Dajahu and the acquisition of Silcom S.A. in Uruguay.
Additionally, we had a substantial increase in sales volume in the period in Uruguay. Taking all these factors into account, EBITDA for the quarter was BRL 245 million, up 33% with a margin of 10.2%, an increase in profitability and the return to historical levels of the company's margins as already highlighted by Luciano. On slide 13 now, the company's total debt was BRL 3.4 billion, up 32% due to new funding to cope with the recently announced acquisitions. Sequentially, we also posted an increase due to working capital seasonality. Net debt to EBITDA for the last 12 months was 2.4 times at the end of the period. Even considering the four acquisitions made last year, the company is still leveraged with enough room to meet its commitments and proceed with its growth strategy.
CapEx for the period totaled BRL 29 million, with investments in maintenance and postponement of the company's expansion projects in view of the new interest rate level in the market. We highlight that we canceled 10 million treasury stocks in the period after the beginning of our new current buyback program, the seventh since the IPO. We have 360 million shares in total and are currently repurchasing up to 10 million shares within the next 18 months. To conclude, I would like to highlight that we have published our sustainability report based on the GRI guidelines, SASB, and principles of the World Economic Forum and the UN Global Compact. We have aligned our ESG actions with the strategic pillars disclosed to the market on the last Camil Day about purpose and people, quality and sales, and efficiency and growth.
Thus, we have initiatives in the report that are consistent with Camil's business plan for the coming years and in line with our commitment to carry out actions that are effective in our surroundings. Our ESG agenda for this year included our materiality matrix, which involved consultations with more than 3,000 stakeholders covering all the countries in which we operate. In addition to the environmental and social indicators published, in June 2022, in an assembly meeting, we voted on the new state for the board of directors, which includes 67% independent members and new female board members. We believe that this move increases diversity and supports the effectiveness of the board in terms of our strategic direction for the coming years.
Finally, we are committed to move forward and exploit actions to increase the return to our shareholders and continue to make progress towards increased efficiencies and quick integration of the acquisitions. We continue to evaluate new opportunities to expand based on our know-how and our distributed platform in Latin America. Now, we are ready to initiate the Q&A session. Thank you all very much.