OUR MISSION

Nossa Familia’s mission is to deliver exceptional farm-direct coffee and create positive relationships locally and globally, maximizing our contribution to the communities we’re a part of while striving to minimize our environmental footprint.

OUR STORY: THE EARLY DAYS

Avid cyclist, Brazilian exchange student, college tennis player, recovering mechanical engineer, hater of legumes – these are just a few ways you could describe Augusto Carneiro, founder and fearless leader of Nossa Familia Coffee. College brought Augusto from Rio de Janeiro to Portland, where he played tennis, rode bikes, and studied engineering. After college, Augusto worked for a few years as a mechanical engineer, but soon became frustrated with a job he felt was mundane and unfulfilling (it is widely believed that he is much too talkative and distractible to be an engineer; he's been known to sport a T-shirt reading "Squirrel Whisperer"). His thoughts kept drifting back to his childhood and the time he spent working on his family’s coffee farms in Brazil. Filled with a deep sense of pride for the beautiful work his family had been doing for over one hundred years, Augusto decided to quit his job and bring his family’s coffee to Portland. Nossa Familia’s start was slow and unconventional. There was no cafe and no roasting facility. Instead, Augusto focused on relationships. In 2004 Augusto’s family shipped him a container of coffee on consignment and he found ways to sell it. Nossa Familia Coffee was officially in business.

EVOLVING

Nossa Familia Coffee has come a long way since those humble beginnings in 2004. We opened our Pearl District roasting facility in 2012 and in 2013, with the help of a successful Kickstarter campaign, we opened our Espresso Bar in the same building. We have expanded beyond our family’s Brazilian coffee to bring you coffees from other farms in different growing regions around the world. Some things, however, haven’t changed: we are still focused on building relationships, Augusto still rides his bike to work, and he still doesn’t eat legumes. Nossa Familia will continue to evolve, but our values on social and environmental responsibility, quality coffee, and relationships are deeply rooted in our heritage and will always serve as the guiding force of our growth.