Ensuring a sustainable future for its coffee-producing members is the challenge that Cooxupé (Regional Cooperative of Coffee Growers of Guaxupé) undertakes, along with the commitment to offer a product that respects the environment and follows ethical principles. Founded in 1932 as an agricultural credit union and transformed into an agricultural cooperative in 1957, Cooxupé today has more than 18,000 members, with the vast majority — around 97% of the associate base — comprising small-scale producers that rely on family farming.

In this context, Cooxupé has developed the Generations Protocol (Protocolo Gerações, in portuguese), a tool for continuous improvement towards sustainability that subdivides into four levels of environmental, social, and economic assessment.

The protocol takes into account the different realities of each producer, weighing factors such as production size and resources, among others. This enables the cooperative to be prepared to meet current and future demands in a highly competitive market, with an emphasis on ecological issues.

Sustainability is quality

The Generations Protocol was developed in partnership with SCS Global Services, an international company specializing in environmental certifications, sustainability, and food quality. It outlines the sustainability commitments and requirements that producers should pursue.

Cooxupé has defined four different sustainability levels based on 114 requirements:

• Level 1: Aware of Sustainability (compliance with all essential requirements)
• Level 2: Involved in Sustainability (50% compliance with applicable requirements, including essential requirements)
• Level 3: Practicing Sustainability (75% compliance with applicable requirements, including essential requirements)
• Level 4: Beyond Sustainability (100% compliance with applicable requirements, including essential requirements)

“By complying with the protocol, the farmer’s production can also be included in Cooxupé’s specialty coffees and may even win awards. This adds value to coffee,” says Matheus Franco Severino, Senior ESG Analyst at Cooxupé.
As a transparency guarantee, the cooperative and its members are regularly visited and undergo checks and verifications of their processes. “This ensures the credibility demanded by the market. It’s not just about what Cooxupé thinks that sustainability is. All producers and Cooxupé undergo an audit.”

 

Environmental inclusion

“We realized that many of the producers, around 85% to 90% of our members, ended up being excluded from the sustainability certification system. With the Generations Protocol, we have a tool that is capable of including these small producers in this dynamic, making it an inclusive and participative program,” Severino says.

To achieve this, Cooxupé provides a trained team to support the cooperative members, so that they can adjust their practices and meet all the requirements outlined by the protocol.

One of the criteria imposed by the Generations Protocol, for example, relates to reducing greenhouse gas emissions, such as protecting legal reserves, complying with environmental legislation, and measuring the release of polluting gas.

 

Results and the future

Since the start of the protocol, Cooxupé has noticed that producers have begun to attach more importance to sustainability certifications. “We see several producers who are already part of the protocol, already fulfilling various requirements, and yet engaged in improvements,” Severino says.

Additionally, the cooperative already sees positive consequences for its business. Coffee produced by the cooperative within the Generations Protocol is well-received in the market and is creating new opportunities for Cooxupé, which has already started to export it.

Currently, around 400 producers participate in the Generations Protocol, and the plan is for more than 700 coffee growers to join the project by 2024.”