Mason Alvalle, Coffee Sourcing Manager at Finlay Beverages, reflects on meeting young coffee producers from Brazil as part of Finlays’ partnership with COOMAP.
In September, Finlays hosted a group of “next generation” Brazilian coffee producers from Cooperativa Mista Paraguaçu (COOMAP), a long-term supplier and partner for Finlay Beverage’s Fairtrade coffee.
The group included young people from farming families at different stages of their careers. Some are studying Agronomy and beginning work on their family farms, others have recently graduated from high school and are considering a future in farming, while a few are already successful examples of generational family farming.
[VIDEO] The next generation of coffee producers reflect on their visit with Finlays
During their visit, the young farmers met with customers and toured Finlays’ manufacturing sites in South Elmsall and Hull, to both develop their understanding of how the coffee industry operates in the UK and where the coffee they work so hard to produce ultimately ends up.
As members of a Brazilian Fairtrade co-operative, the group was also excited to visit Rochdale, the birthplace of the co-operative movement, along with Fairtrade’s London head office and Co-op’s Manchester headquarters. These visits provided an opportunity to connect over shared values and a common mission: creating a sustainable future for coffee producers.
Finlays has been working closely with COOMAP for many years, sourcing Fairtrade coffee which has allowed both the co-operative and individual members to reinvest in improving agricultural practices and bettering the rural communities they are a part of. This visit represents Finlays’ commitment to succeeding together and acting for the long-term by tackling the problems that face the coffee industry, particularly younger generations moving away from farming.
[VIDEO] COOMAP’s Rafael Furtado Fonseca and Finlays’ Mason Alvalle on the importance of Fairtrade
Educational visits like this, combined with long-term environmental initiatives and commercial partnerships which reinvest in co-operatives such as COOMAP are key to ensuring the future of coffee — both at Finlays and across the wider coffee industry.
