We work with 14 partners worldwide, from who we source our coffee. In Brazil, we work together with Coopervass. On this page you can find everything you need to know about this collaboration.

THE COUNTRY.

Brazil is not only the largest country in Latin America, it is also the largest coffee producer in the world. Nr 1 in arabica and nr 2 in robusta. The vast, flat areas available for agriculture, the favourable climate and a high level of technical development make Brazil into a coffee behemoth. Most farms are immense, sometimes (mainly in the west of the state of Minas Gerais) they can be over a thousand hectares. Together all farms in Brazil account for around 30% of global coffee production. In the south east of Minas Gerais the landscape changes, hills become more steep and the landscape is more diverse. Herefarms are relatively small. These Brazilian small scale farmers often have less than 10 hectares and have found specialty coffee is a way to compensate for limited volumes. Higher quality and more characteristic coffees yield a higher price, at least if the market recognises the coffee for what it's worth.

THE

COFFEE.

The friendly, low acidic, chocolaty profile of Brazilian coffee makes it perfect for blending with more fruity coffees to reach a balanced taste, suitable for espressos and milk based coffee drinks. The coffee from the small scale farms who are organised in the Coopervass cooperative provide amazing specialty coffee. Balanced, predictable and even slightly fruity and funky. That is why we look for special edition coffees (or microlots) from one of the farmers every year.

OUR

PARTNERSHIP.

Our partnership with Coopervass led to the first direct export ever by the cooperative in 2020. Coopervass is made up of over 2000 mainly smaller scale farmers who rely on quality, not quantity, to improve their livelihood. By setting up direct export relations and long term partnerships this cooperative is taking a different approach than most Brazilian producers take. Our collaboration, which is based on trust, accommodates the opportunity to work on challenges that go further than just the quality. We have joined hands with Cooprevass to make regenerative coffee from Brazil the norm. And not the low effort, green-washed version. Au contraire. We are aiming for the full monty: phasing out chemical fertiliser, soil improvement, resilience against climate change and biodiversity restoration. There is a long road ahead but we are committed to taking it.

THE

CHANGEMAKER.

Meet Allesandro and Thales. They are the driving forces behind “the Green coffee project” for Coopervass. A program to develop direct export relations and work on more sustainably grown coffee. Wakuli works closely with Alessandro, Thales (our English speaking account- and project- manager) and over 30 farmers to work towards 100% regenerative coffee production. Read more here about what that means.
Allesandro, a coffee farmer himself, is the general manager of Coopervass and the mastermind behind moving the cooperative in the direction of specialty coffee. Add to that the ambition to become regenerative -getting off of chemical fertiliser and pesticides- and you understand that he is fighting a serious battle for a noble cause. Allesandro and Thales describe Wakuli as their family and the feeling is mutual!

SOME NUMBERS.

103

Farmers

2020

Partnership since

84.600

Total KGs sourced since start of partnership

OUR BRAZILIAN COFFEE

Our Brazil coffee is available year round as part of all our blends and as single origin pods. Every year we strive to offer the coffee of one of the farmers from Coopervass as a Micro Lot. Because coffee is a seasonal product in every producing country and logistics are sensitive to changes, the exact timing of the offer is hard to predict. So keep your eyes open for our offers.