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Just northeast of Brasilia in the administrative region of Planaltna, Brazil, you will find the Cootaquara co-operative. More than 265 farmer members grow a variety of produce for the co-op including peppers, aubergines, cucumbers, tomatoes, carrots and onions.
What’s unique about this co-op is that it is a business created among 265 small-scale horticultural growers in a country where we usually imagine every farmer or producer is operating with vast scale.
The average farm size of members of the Cootaquara co-op is less than 20ha, with most operated as family farms. Cootaquara was initially founded by 20 farmers in 2001 and has since grown its membership rapidly.
The principal benefit of joining the co-operative is simply access to market
If a local grower wishes to join the co-operative it costs R$700 (€208), which can be paid off in instalments over a 10-month period.
The principal benefit of joining the co-operative is simply access to market. Although Cootaquara ships just 500t of produce a month, it has developed significant relationships with some very large retailers such as Walmart and Carrefour. The co-op says these large retailers like trading with them because they offer quality and up to 40 different varieties of produce.
Based out of a small and simple packing house, Cootaquara employs more than 65 people from the village and has eight delivery trucks in operation to ship over 500t of produce every month.
Farmers are paid once a month for their produce, with prices based on a grading system for quality.
Co-op store
Similar to most Irish co-ops, a farm input store arose out of the success of the co-op sales operations. At Cootaquara, the farm store side of the business developed in 2006 when a farmer came to the co-op and asked them to mediate on his behalf in pricing a new irrigation system.
The quotation received by the co-op for the irrigation system was R$5,000 (€1,500), which is almost 75% less than what the individual farmer had been quoted.
As such, a farm trading business was developed at Cootaquara to offer farmer growers the best value in the input market.
The agribusiness store takes just a 10% margin on top of the cost price in order to run the business, which means significant savings are passed back to the small-scale growers.
The co-op model in Brazil
Despite the relative simplicity of this produce business, Brazilian farmers have embraced the co-op model as it allows them access to sales channels such as Carrefour and Walmart. Some farmers in the region still operate independently but their reach is limited to local trade, whereas Cootaquara fruit and vegetables are being sold all over Brazil.
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