Discover the cooperative that helped transform Amazonian Robusta into award-winning coffee For many years, Robusta coffee was seen as just a common bean, destined mainly for industry. In Rondônia, this story began to change when family farmers began to invest in quality, innovation and cooperativism. Today, coffees produced by these families win awards, cross oceans and reach the cups of consumers in countries such as South Korea, China, Germany and Spain. At the center of this transformation is the Cooperative of Family Farmers of the Amazon (Lacoop Amazônia), created in 2017, when a group of producers realized that the coffee produced in the region had unique characteristics, but faced a challenge: commercializing microlots of specialty coffees. "The difficulty in selling microlots of coffee led them to gather a group of producers and come up with the idea of ??creating an organization that could do this for them. Hence Lacoop was born", explains the cooperative's CEO, Nildo Pereira. After the creation of the cooperative, producers began to work collectively to raise the standard of coffee produced on family properties. The focus is no longer just productivity and now includes quality, sustainability and adding value to the product. READ ALSO: MP denounces people for evading more than R$7 million in ICMS with irregular sale of cattle Government reallocates R$231.5 million from Health and changes the destination of funds planned for Heuro From crop to cup Get to know the cooperative that helped transform the Amazon Robusta into award-winning coffee Reproduction/LaCoop Amazônia According to Nildo Pereira, the difference between coffee produced in Rondônia begins with the characteristics of the Amazon itself. The climate, humidity and cloudiness influence the development of the beans and help to form their own sensory profile, which today distinguishes Amazon Robusta in the specialty coffee market. "Specialty coffees in the Amazon and Rondônia emerged precisely because of the difference that is produced in the Amazon region, due to the characteristics that this product has in relation to everything that surrounds the Amazon, climate, cloudiness, humidity. All of this makes coffee from the Amazon, coffee from Rondônia and, in particular, the Amazonian Robusta coffee, Matas de Rondônia, have unique characteristics", he said. In addition to natural conditions, the cooperative began to guide producers on good management practices, rational use of agrochemicals and production protocols aimed at quality and sustainability. The proposal, according to the director, is to seek a balance between productivity, environmental preservation and financial return for families. "The way of producing what changed was, in fact, some cultural care, some cultural treatments that come into contact with quality, the zeal for the rational use of agrochemicals so that it would not interfere with the quality of the coffee", he explained. Quality that opened markets Café Robusta Amazônico won awards and reached international markets Reproduction/LaCoop Amazônia The investment in quality began to be reflected in the results. Over the last few years, coffees produced by cooperative members have started to gain space in the main specialty coffee competitions in Rondônia and opened doors to new markets. "Today 70% of all award-winning coffees in Rondônia, in a certain way, come from people directly involved in Lacoop", he informed. The recognition also helped to expand the presence of the Amazon Robusta on the international market. The grains produced by cooperative members have already been exported to countries in Asia and Europe, while the Brazilian market continues to be the main destination for production. "The cooperative's coffees have already reached Asian markets, mainly Korea, China, as well as European countries and Germany," he said. More than recognition, the awards also changed the way many producers sell coffee. Instead of selling just raw grain, part of the cooperative members started to invest in their own brands and in all stages of processing, adding value to the product. "Most of the award-winning producers created their own brands, they are doing the complete cycle, roasting, grinding, packaging and placing in large coffee shops throughout Brazil", he informed. For Nildo Pereira, this transformation is the result of work built over the last few years to show that the Amazonian Robusta could be recognized not only for its productivity, but also for its quality and identity. "Characterizing the coffee produced here as unique, creating a characteristic for it, was a differentiator, it was what actually made it today at the level we are at", he explained. Amazonian Robusta Coffee Reproduction/LaCoop Amazônia