Who is Coopfam?
Poço Fundo is a village of approximately 17,000 inhabitants, situated in a mountainous district, rich in woods and watercourses, in the south of the state of Minas Gerais, Brazil. The landscape is invaded by coffee plantations, which constitute the predominant activity of the area – Minas Gerais is the main producer of Brazilian coffee. In 1991, the small scale farmers of Poço Fundo organized to found “Associação de Pequenos Produtores” (Association of small scale producers), with the objective to promote cooperation between them and improving their own quality of life and work.

The Association turned into a co-op named COOPFAM that counts 250 associates who live in 13 near-by villages. It produces mainly coffee (an average of 12,000 bags per year, half of which organically grown) but also other products and mostly with the work of the associates and their relatives. Coopfam cooperates with other 5 associations from the near-by villages and runs various educational and charity programs in Poço Fundo. The co-op has the objective to create a sustainable production system, so it teaches farmers the agricultural methods to manage their properties with the standards set by Fair Trade and Organic certifications.

In 1997, they applied for Fairtrade (Max Havelaar) and Organic (AAO- Association of Organic Agriculture) certifications. Since 2002, Coopfam is certified by Sapucaí, a local organization that authorizes Coopfam to sell its organic vegetables, chickens, eggs and cereals in the district. In the same year, Coopfam was BSC OKO certified. Nowadays, it has the certifications of FLO Fair Trade Label Organization, Naturland, UTZ and Rainforest Alliance. The co-op sells most of its coffee, obtained by organic and conventional farming methods, to United States and Europe. These trade relationships rely on Organic and Fair Trade certifications so that fair prices and social dignity are guaranteed to the producers.

The certifications did not prevent Coopfam from carrying out the research of a high quality coffee. The use of good agricultural methods and cultivation system recommended by Universities and Institutes of Agrarian Research brought the farmers to use quality standards in the cure of the plant, in the harvesting and in the processing of the bean. In 2005, one of the farmers from Coopfam won a Coffee Quality Prize. In 2006, four coffees of the co-op were put in the classification of the best 100 coffees of Minas Gerais. In 2007, another associate of Coopfam received a prize for the supreme quality of the coffee and in 2008 the co-op received the Social Responsibility Prize from the Brazilian Government. As you can see, they really produce a great coffee!

Coopfam Programs

In September 2008 Sant’Eustachio Il Caffè decided to donate the extra proceeds from the sale of its traditional Blend to Coopfam. Among all the programs realized by the co-op from Poço Fundo (for info, please see this web site www.coopfam.com.br), Sant’Eustachio Il Caffè has three of them very much at heart. They are three social programs that meet the needs both of the social community and of the co-op necessity for development.

The first program is to build a Garden Centre. With the help and information of Agronomical Schools and Bodies it will be possible to create a Garden Centre where to seed the coffee seedlings of the varieties that better adapt to the area. Moreover, the Garden Centre will produce fruit trees and other plants to improve the soil and increase the biological diversity. The Garden Centre will have a social role too: it will be run by the older youths of the “Minas Olimpica” Program; thanks to the program they will be able to learn a profession and earn a little wage.

The second and third programs, the Drawing and Music Lessons, are part of the “Minas Olimpica” Program. “Minas Olimpica” was born by initiative of the Governement of the State of Minas Gerais, in Poço Fundo, and it was supported by Coopfam. The aim of the Program is to save the children of the village from the street and the bad companies by means of sportive, educational and cultural activities. When they are not at school, the 105 youths involved in the Program play sports, attend drawing, painting and music lessons, learn to use computers and are given tutorials.

Part of the price of the Sant’Eustachio Coffee Blend is donated to these three programs, making the consumer an active participant in the initiative. For further information, please see Traceability of the Sant’Eustachio Benefits.