ISEAL Alliance

Old Blue Eyes may have sung “There’s an awful lot of coffee in Brazil” in 1946 but it is as true today as it was then. According to the latest figures from the ICO (International Coffee Organization) Brazil is still - by a long margin - the biggest exporter of coffee in the world. In total 29 715 620 sacks (at 60 kg each) from July 2009 to June 2010 were exported.

These tremendous figures came from humble beginnings. According to history – more probably legend – the Brazilian government of 1727 was keen to cash in on the growing demand for coffee but literally hadn’t a bean to their name. They decided to send their most dashing officer, Lieutenant Colonel Francisco de Mello Palheta, on a mission to steal some coffee beans from French Guiana. Palheta soon made a “conquest” of the wife of the Governor of French Guiana and as a farewell gift she gave him a bouquet of flowers containing one solitary coffee cutting. 

That cutting went on to seed enormous wealth in Brazil and one major beneficiary of that was the state of São Paulo. Known as the locomotive of Brazil’s economy, São Paulo is the richest and largest state in Brazil. Coffee funded its industrialisation but even today this state has some of the most fertile and perfect land for coffee production – what Brazilians call “purple lands”. Situated within São Paulo state ISEAL member 4C has one of its associates - the 4C Unit Stockler 01.

The 4C Association – which includes producers, trade and industry and civil society from around the world – has joined forces to continuously improve the social, environmental and economic conditions for the people making their living with coffee. Only a small percentage of the coffee sold in supermarkets and coffee shops around the world is certified to meet social and environmental standards. The large majority of the coffee we drink is produced and traded without taking into consideration the natural environment where it was produced and the living conditions of coffee farmers and workers. The 4C Association was founded to address this problem by implementing a baseline sustainability standard for the mainstream coffee market.

The 4C Unit Stockler 01 belongs to the Neumann Kaffee Gruppe’s export company Stockler Comercial e Exportadora Ltda. Stockler 01 was founded in March 2008 and became a 4C Unit one year later with the aim of bringing together producers from various regions and spreading the word about sustainable ways of producing and marketing coffee in Brazil. Currently it has 347 business partners working on 47, 452 hectares producing 321,000 sacks of beans.

From its headquarters in the historic centre of the port city of Santos in the state of São Paulo, Stockler 01 spreads out to the two main production regions of Mogiana in São Paulo, and to the South of Minas. Major centres can be found around Espírito Santo do Pinhal, Tres Pontas and Santo Antonio do Amparo. Stockler 01 organises workshops to attract the attention of producers that are not yet affiliated to the 4C by showing them that producing coffee according to the 4C core principles brings improvements with it.

Interview with Osmar Moraes, Representative of Stockler O1

Why did you become member of 4C Association?

Stockler is part of NKG – Neumann Kaffee Gruppe, a founding member of 4C Association. NKG has worked on, and with, a number of principles for the sustainable production of coffee for many years. Becoming a part of the 4C Association by forming a 4C Unit was therefore in line with this quest. If we were to summarise the reason for the unit’s existence in one word, it would be: Commitment.

How does 4C Association impact your work?

I believe that the 4C Association came about at a time when the market was looking for guidance, for a sustainability baseline. The way I see it, 4C helped and facilitated communication among coffee producers in as far as explaining the importance of sustainability to the market is concerned.

What are the factors of success within the 4C concept?

I see three main factors: one single worldwide basis combined with the simplicity and objectivity of the principles of the 4C Code and their indicators.

What do you want to achieve with 4C Association in the future?

To be honest, I feel a little isolated as a 4C Unit when it comes to local support. I believe it would be beneficial to 4C Units to be able to organise activities together with other units and their producers and to try and follow the same standard of activities.

Has 4C helped you step-up to other standards already?

4C is a basis, a starting point. The next steps are easier once there is a solid basis first. What is more important is that producers get to see another reality, change their ideas and consequently, their actions.

What do you expect from 4C Association?

I hope for an improvement in the local organization so that 4C Units can feel they get support, where they can find the answers to their questions and doubts, or even help with the organization of events and further activities.