Sustainability

Direct Trade Coffee Sourcing

Forming meaningful, personal relationships with the farmers we source from has always been fundamental to Nossa Familia Coffee – in fact, the company was literally founded upon direct trade coffee (aka Grandma and Grandpa’s farm.) What started as an exclusively family-trade coffee business has expanded over the years to feature coffees from around the world. When Nossa Familia sources green coffee we make sure to do so through transparent, familiar channels that we have personally evaluated. In most cases we have visited the farm, farmer, or cooperative we are buying from (sometimes annually.) When we haven’t had the chance to visit we source through trusted companies, like Portland’s B Corp Certified Sustainable Harvest importers, Guatemala based non-profit De la Gente, socially-focused Deeper Roots Coffee, Café Imports, or Bourbon Coffee.

OUR DIRECT TRADE STANDARDS

We are proud to operate a Direct Trade coffee model built on strong relationships. We hold ourselves to these coffee sourcing standards: 

  • We meet with farmers, visit their farms, take Origin Trips, and maintain an open and communicative relationship based on a feedback loop. 
  • We work directly with the farmers to set sustainable prices and partner with responsible and trusted importers who work with farmers to set prices that ensure farmers an economically viable future. 
  • We always pay farmers a fair, sustainable price for their coffee. 
  • We strive to bring exceptional, quality coffees to our customers, with a score at or above 84 points on the Specialty Coffee Association cupping scale. 
  • We honor the farmers by learning their stories and sharing them with others.
  • We work to build connections between employees, customers, and farmers. 
  • We work with farmers to identify and support farm improvement projects and community development needs.

“When I started Nossa Familia Coffee, it was with the premise of showcasing and celebrating my family's coffee tradition in Brazil that dates back over a century. The goal was to work with my family to select the cream of their crop, and pay them a specialty price to ensure our family would continue growing coffee for generations to come. When we met farmers from other coffee origins--now friends and trusted partners--we approached them in the same way: to nurture a positive long term relationship that is mutually beneficial for all involved. We appreciate all of you who choose our coffee and believe in our purpose to nurture these global and local relationships.”

– Augusto Carneiro, Founder of Nossa Familia Coffee 

ORGANIC COFFEE & CERTIFICATIONS

Nossa Familia Coffee purchases coffees that may be certified Organic, Utz certified, BSCA certified, and/or Fair Trade certified. Some of the farms/cooperatives we work with carry no certifications but use environmentally and socially conscious methods, choosing not to certify due to financial or political reasons. Our personal relationships with the producers we source from allows us to move beyond dependence on a third-party certification for knowledge of farming practices. Nossa Familia holds both Organic and B Corp certifications and believe these to be valuable indicators and standards for our commitment to protecting environmental integrity in the coffee process.

Nossa Familia Coffee is a certified Organic handling facility by Oregon Tilth, enabling us to assure the integrity of the Organic green coffee we purchase and to offer it as Organic Certified roasted coffee. We currently offer two coffees in our family line that are Organic Certified. These coffees are sourced from cooperatives in Huehuetenango, Guatemala (UPC - Asociación Unión de Pequeños Caficultores) and Peru. Learn more about our Organic coffees: Augusta's Organic Breakfast and Camila's Organic. Our other producer partners may also use organic, natural, and regenerative practices on their farms but do not carry the certifications, which can be prohibitively expensive for smaller producers.