CERRADO MINEIRO, Brazil – In yet another unprecedented milestone for Brazilian and global coffee farming, 20 farms associated with the Cerrado Coffee Growers Cooperative (Expocacer) have received the Carbon on Track label from the Institute for Forest and Agricultural Management and Certification (Imaflora) for low-carbon production. During inspections, an emission value of 0.85 tons of carbon dioxide equivalent per acre per year was found. The verification confirms an absolute value of 17,421.00 Mg CO2e or 2.60 kg CO2e per kilogram of green coffee, which is considered low.
“This proves the sustainable work our members have been doing for over 10 years. Our intention is to promote, encourage, and nurture a cutting-edge coffee culture tied to positive impact. We are very pleased to be able to support the movement towards a healthier environment,” says Farlla Gomes, Technical Sustainability Manager at Expocacer.
The properties together have a total area of more than 3,600 hectares of coffee plantations.
For Expocacer, the trend towards reducing greenhouse gases is something that should be followed by other coffee growers around the world.
“We’re proud to have our property verified and to be able to contribute to the environment. We feel like we’re doing the right thing, which is taking care of our planet and collaborating with the future,” says Maria Aparecida Fernandes Pires Ruiz, a coffee grower.
For the producer Roger Montanari, the initiative attests to the practices that are already adopted by the majority of coffee growers in the region. “The carbon verification comes to consolidate the work that rural producers in the Cerrado Mineiro region have been doing for decades, which is to reduce carbon emissions through sustainable agricultural practices, serving as a model protocol for the world in environmental, social and economic terms. With this label, we can prove that we are protagonists in this crucial role of contributing to a more sustainable future, with a reduced impact on climate change.”
“Expocacer’s pioneering spirit is fundamental to opening doors for the coffee-growing sector to move towards low-carbon production, since verification processes play a fundamental role in adding impartiality and greater reliability to the process,” explains Alessandro Rodrigues, Imaflora’s ESG and Carbon on Track Services manager.
Carbon on Track – It’s an Imaflora program designed to recognize low-carbon agriculture and forest restoration in the climate agenda. Through the program, agricultural enterprises can contract the calculation of the carbon balance that shows the estimated emission and removal of greenhouse gases from their activities, based on internationally recognized methodologies.
About Expocacer
Created in 1993 and located in Patrocínio/MG, the Cerrado Coffee Growers’ Cooperative (Expocacer) promotes the quality of its coffees and the work of its members in Brazil and around the world, through relevant socio-environmental initiatives and by stimulating the economy of the entire region. The co-operative’s infrastructure includes two warehouses with capacity for over 1 million bags. It currently serves 680 producers and exports to more than 30 countries on five continents
