Our Fairtrade coffee is sourced from COOPFAM — the Cooperativa dos Agricultores Familiares de Poço Fundo e Região – an association of family farmers based in Poço Fundo, Minas Gerais, Brazil.
The cooperative began in 1991 when 76 farming families came together with a shared ambition: to improve living standards, reduce poverty and protect family-run coffee farming within their region.
COOPFAM achieved Fairtrade certification in 1998, helping its farmers access wider markets and receive greater support for their communities.
The Fairtrade Premium has enabled COOPFAM to invest in valuable social and agricultural projects, including:
These initiatives help farmers improve the quality of their coffee while creating lasting opportunities for their families and the wider community.
COOPFAM is made up of approximately 400 family farmers who carefully cultivate coffee across the mountainous landscape of southern Minas Gerais.
The coffee cherries are hand-picked to help maintain quality and are grown at altitudes of between 900 and 1,250 metres above sea level. Traditional natural and pulped-natural processing methods are then used to bring out the coffee’s distinctive characteristics.
Choosing Fairtrade coffee means supporting farming communities that are working together to improve coffee quality, strengthen local services and create better opportunities for future generations.
Every cup of Chesters Fairtrade coffee connects you with the people, skill and care behind the beans — from the family farms of Brazil to your cup.
