This project involved the identification and development of smallholder producer groups in fair trade orange production in Brazil to become the main suppliers of Fair Trade Orange Juice (FCOJ) for Migros, the largest retail chain in Switzerland.
The main points concerned a cooperative empowerment, their adaptation for fair trade certification, a process to find and define a partner industry and the identification of business opportunities along the value chain through a participatory strategic planning session.
The Fair Trade Orange Juice can be found at Migros’ shelves in Switzerland.
It was a rainy and warm morning in January 2016 in the South of Brazil.
Coacipar´s
commercial director, Vanusa Toledo, and its president, Hercules Cestaro, were going through the
final presentations for the cooperative year-end general assembly. Coacipar is a Fair Trade certified
small-hold producers cooperative in Paranavaí, in the area of orange production.
They knew that the producers were pleased with the achieved revenues partially due to the
high dollar exchange rate, which has augmented substantially throughout the year, as well as due to
the fact that the cooperative has exported its entire production and sold a majority thereof to a large
and reputable retail chain in Europe.
