Informing Brand Attributes: A History of Family Farming in Brazil Drives Nossa Familia Coffee

Augusto Carneiro, founder and chief friendship officer of Nossa Familia Coffee, not only highlights his Brazilian heritage in the company’s coffee but also champions Nossa Familia’s commitment to sustainability and charitable causes.

Launched in 2004, Nossa Familia Coffee has been catering to java enthusiasts in Portland, Oregon, and throughout the United States online. 2016 the company became Oregon’s first Certified B Corp coffee roaster.

Earlier this year, Nossa Familia released a special 20th Anniversary Blend, a collaboration of the family farms in Brazil and partner farms Finca San Jerónimo Miramar in Guatemala and Finca San Jose de las Nubes in Nicaragua. Fifty cents from every purchase goes toward improving the Finca San Jose de las Nubes schoolhouse in Nicaragua.

Augusto Carneiro, a native of Brazil, initially pursued a career in mechanical engineering after graduating from the University of Portland with his degree in 2001. Finding that career choice unfulfilling, Carneiro tapped into his family roots — dating back more than a century — running a farm in Sul de Minas, one of the largest regions for Arabica coffees in Brazil. That led to the 2004 launch of Nossa Familia Coffee, and for the past 20 years the company has been catering to java enthusiasts in Portland, Ore. and throughout the United States online.

Carneiro’s lineage is reflected not only in Nossa Familia’s coffee — made from flavorful Arabica beans grown at altitudes above 3,000 feet, in rich volcanic soils — but also in the company’s commitment to sustainability and charitable causes. For instance, Nossa Familia offers 16 hours of paid time annually to encourage its permanent employees to volunteer and work with various community initiatives, nurturing camaraderie among staff members and cultivating personal growth.

Soon after the company launched, Carneiro debuted a giveback program that provides financial assistance and coffee donations to nonprofits working to alleviate poverty and improve the livelihoods of people in the greater Portland area as well as several coffee-growing countries, according to the company’s website.

What’s more, the program commits 1 percent of annual gross profits to numerous causes. These include supporting Community Vision, which works to make Oregon a place where people with disabilities can live, work, and thrive; and underwriting the p:ear Barista School, a nonprofit dedicated to building positive relationships with homeless and transitional youth through education, art, recreation, and job training.

The various programs have elevated the brand. In 2016, Nossa Familia became Oregon’s first Certified B Corp coffee roaster, meeting lofty standards for performance, accountability, and transparency.

Earlier this year, Nossa Familia released a special 20th Anniversary Blend, a collaboration of the family farms in Brazil and partner farms Finca San Jerónimo Miramar in Guatemala and Finca San Jose de las Nubes in Nicaragua. Fifty cents from every purchase goes toward improving the schoolhouse at Finca San Jose de las Nubes in Nicaragua.

ANA magazine recently spoke with Carneiro to learn more about Nossa Familia’s charitable efforts, how to thrive in a crowded marketplace, and why having a B Corp Certification is so important for the brand.

[This interview has been edited for length and clarity.]

Q. What is Nossa Familia Coffee?

It starts in Brazil with my family, which has been growing coffee since the 1890s. It’s been in our bloodline for a long time. We import the coffee raw, [and] roast and package everything here in Portland. Then it goes out to our three cafes and wholesale to grocery stores, bakeries, coffee shops, et cetera. And we do quite a bit of online business direct to the consumer all over the United States.

Q. Were you already in Portland when you first pursued this venture?

Yes. I moved here in 1996, attending the University of Portland. I intended to go back to Brazil but met my wife in college. I stayed behind for the American girl.

I started working as an engineer. By the third year, I really disliked it. I had to figure out what I was going to do and landed on coffee. I brought a box of coffee from Brazil on the plane, just to test it out. I got some great responses from my friends and family and neighbors.

Q. How did you establish a new brand in such a crowded market?

Our plan was to tell the story, then have people taste the coffee. Then repeat. It started very, very slowly. I learned about the “raised eyebrow” test. People said: “Really? This is from your family’s farm? That’s amazing.” I realized the way my family has gone about it would strike a chord with Portlanders, with our appreciation for high-end products that are made with sustainability in mind, with people in mind.

Q. Is that your backstory?

Q. In addition to your family’s farms, talk about your partnerships with farms in Guatemala and Nicaragua.

Coffee has a lot of parallels to wine, with different terroirs, different altitudes, latitudes, microclimates. Like grape varietals, there’s lots of different coffee varietals. The attraction of working with other coffees was to increase the range of flavor profiles. We actually meet the farmers, go visit them, and then do business with them. We were looking for people that had similar ethos and a high-quality product, people that we could work with for decades to come. It’s been 12 years now.

Q. How has your story changed during the past 20 years?

It’s a little bit deeper because of what we’ve been able to do in Portland with our giveback program, with our sustainability efforts, becoming a Certified B Corp, and using business as a force for good. The story has expanded.

Q. How do you get that story out into the marketplace?

What’s worked really well for us was doing a lot of hands-on events. We said yes to every cycling event in Portland, a cycling mecca. That’s how we came up with our signature Full Cycle blend. Once people heard the story and tasted the coffee, it wasn’t hard to convert them. That became our strategy — attending events, meeting people face-to-face, and having them hear our story. As the business got bigger, we started doing farmers’ markets. We’ve had years where we did more than 200 events.

Q. Are you marketing through digital media channels?

We have a beautifully curated Instagram page that’s very on-brand. Our primary focus is on Instagram, and we feed from there to Facebook. Another important part for us is email campaigns. Then we have online followers.

Q. How important is your B Corp Certification to your brand message?

It’s a bit of the tail wagging the dog. We became a B Corp because we were already doing a lot of the things that B Corp was suggesting. Becoming a B Corp helped give us a framework to tell our story. It also helped us with ideas, because there are things that the B Corp community will suggest.

Q. Has sustainability always been a part of your brand efforts?

My family had been doing sustainability way before it was a tagline. As farmers, they wanted to sustain the land and have sustainable growing practices so that we could pass it on to the next generation in a really good state and not deplete the land for short-term profits. I’ve always broken the word in two and call it “the ability to sustain.”

Q. What was the genesis of your Nossa Familia Giveback Program?

Early on, I was at a grocery store and picked up a bag of Newman’s Own coffee. I saw how many millions they had donated, and thought: “Oh man, this is amazing. How do you get to this level?” My wife, who is a midwife, told me the birth centers she volunteered at were doing a fundraiser. I had this idea, “What if we used the coffee for a fundraiser? We could immediately donate some money.” It grew from there pretty quickly.

Q. Is the giveback program an extension of the coffee-loving community?

It’s an integral part of what we do. I wanted to create a company that would help make the world a better place. I didn’t know how to do it just by selling coffee. The fact that we’re growing means we’re growing how much we give back. And the Kiva microloans are enabling entrepreneurs in developing countries.

Q. Can you tell us about your tours?

We started taking people to the farm in Brazil. When we started doing business with farmers in Guatemala, we started going there. We have an annual trip where we spend a week there and harvest coffee with the farmers. We do some sightseeing and cultural experiences. It’s become a huge part of the business. It’s another way of making the world a smaller and more understanding place by having people participate in the coffee-production cycle.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Brion O’Connor

Brion O’Connor is a Boston-based freelance writer and a longtime contributor to the ANA, specializing in social impact initiatives. His 40-year journalism career includes stints as a newspaper reporter, newspaper editor, magazine writer, and content provider for custom publications. His stories have run in Sports Illustrated, ESPN, Men’s Journal, Men’s Fitness, the New York Times, the Boston Globe, Ski, Bicycling, and numerous alumni and in-flight magazines. You can connect with Brion on LinkedIn.