(Provided by supplier, who is a member of the Aequitas network)
‘The story begins with the family tradition passed from father to son in the cultivation and care of the land, through subsistence agriculture on a small property with about 20 hectares (ha), located in the municipality of Santa Mariana, in the north of the state of Paraná.
Mr. Kotaro Okuyama discovered the ruby grape cultivar, and is still recognized to-date for this accomplishment, including having the genus named after him – “Uva Ruby Okuyama ”. Today, this fact remains in history as one of the 100 contributions of Japanese immigrants and their descendants to Brazil.
This was 1974, a period in which the country faced a process of economic slowdown, decline in exports and decline in coffee production, as a result of soil depletion and climatic imbalances; José Hiroiti Okuyama, eldest son of Mr. Kotaro, taking with him the tradition passed on by his parents, was selected to participate in a pioneering program named the Program for Directed Settlement of Alto Paranaíba – PADAP. For this project, the cooperative (CAC-CC) was responsible for the selection of high technical level settlers, as well as for the support in the areas of production, commercialization and financing, with José Hiroiti Okuyama being the third settler to settle in the areas of the PADAP , acquiring its first property, a land called Lote 34 PADAP. At the time they started a totally traditional production of coffee, soybeans and rice, facing several challenges, among them the lack of adequate technology for planting in the cerrado region, and no information as to what crops are suitable for this soil.
But they learned, and more than forty years after the implementation of the project, the business grew to have more than 10 different units in the Alto Paranaíba region, state of Minas Gerais, in the municipalities of São Gotardo, Rio Paranaíba and Campos Altos. Managing a total area 3,200 hectares they process not just coffee, but carrots, garlic, potatoes, onions, corn, soybeans and wheat.
With scale they aim at ‘quality, efficiently’, and are aligned with sustainability and respect for the environment, contributing to the social and economic development of the region where they operate and generating value for all its constituent elements.