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"At Nossa Familia, sustainability isn't just a buzzword," says Founder & Chief Friendship Officer Augusto Carneiro, "It's how we operate every aspect of our business, really going to the root of the word—the ability to sustain." Carneiro hails from Rio de Janeiro and his family in Brazil grows most of the coffee the company sources and roasts. Coffee farming has been in Carneiro's family since the 1890s, and the tradition continues today. Carneiro came to Portland as a foreign exchange student and later founded Nossa Familia in 2004 with the idea of bringing his family's coffee to share with his new friends in Portland. Since then, the company has grown from a small importing business to a full-fledged roaster with three coffee shops in Portland.
As Oregon's first Certified B Corporation coffee roaster, Nossa Familia takes its commitment to social and environmental responsibility seriously. At Nossa Familia, they roast all of their coffee on Loring roasters, the most environmentally-friendly commercial roasters available, which reduce roasting energy use and emissions by more than 80 percent compared to a standard roaster. Their cafés have a pioneering zero-waste program, and they're the first coffee shop chain in Portland to encourage real customer behavior change around waste reduction by charging more for single-use to-go cups. The company has also committed to sourcing ethically and sustainably, by working on a direct trade basis with smallholder and family farmers not only in Brazil, but also in Guatemala, Nicaragua, Peru, and Kenya. They've committed to moving beyond commodity and "fairtrade" markets, and always pay above the Fairtrade minimum price for coffee. Nossa Familia also gives back to the local community, with ongoing partnerships with several nonprofit organizations like p:ear, Central City Concern, The Street Trust, and more.
Three cafés in the Portland area | nossacoffee.com/locations