Cooperativa Vinícola Aurora brings together 1,100 members who produce grapes of 56 varieties on 3 thousand hectares of cultivated area, in 11 municipalities in Serra Gaúcha. But he saw his credibility go to zero in February 2023, when his name was associated. For the group’s executives, the stain has not yet disappeared, nor should it disappear anytime soon. However, in addition to a reputational scar, the episode also brought a new level of governance to the cooperative’s activities.
This movement began a few months after the release of more than 200 men who worked for Fênix, a company that supplied labor for the Aurora, Garibaldi and Salton wineries. The workers, originally from Bahia, worked 15 hours, six days a week, were fed spoiled food and even received electric shocks, according to the complaint that culminated in action by the Public Ministry of Labor.
The Conduct Adjustment Term (TAC) provides for more than 20 obligations to regulate the contracting of services and prevent the problem from occurring again.
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“The TAC would be the minimum. Aurora proposed to introduce an ESG agenda that is related to the world, not just a region or country”, says Rodrigo Arpini, director of marketing and sales at the cooperative. In the last harvest, which ran from the end of December 2023 to mid-March this year, all employees were hired via CLT.
“Outsourcing is still possible, but then we have a specific issue: if we want to outsource, the employee needs to sleep in the producer’s house, so that he has eyes on all the organizational aspects, such as accommodation and food”, explains Maurício Bonafé , agricultural manager at Aurora.
Inspection on properties
Per harvest, on average, the total number of cooperative members requires the labor of 2,500 workers. Vinicios Dall’Oglio’s property, in Bento Gonçalves, hires five to six people to help with the harvest. The winegrower works with 9 varieties of grapes, with different ripening times.
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“We schedule almost daily the quantity of grapes we want to deliver to the cooperative. This way I can program the number of employees to achieve this harvest within the day’s workload. We strictly adhere to the schedules”, he guarantees.
In April last year, Aurora started a good agricultural practices (BPA) program that consists of guiding winegrowers on appropriate work practices on their properties, in accordance with International Labor Organization (ILO) standards. The program also includes periodic inspections of properties to verify that practices are being followed.
“We had members who invested R$40,000 or R$50,000 to make the adjustments,” says Bonafé. The Dall’Oglios had to make small adjustments to their accommodation, such as adding closets, and spent much less than that: R$8,000.
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The cooperative also has the goal of mechanizing the grape harvest in so-called boxes binsreplacing the 20 kilo boxes. The use of the equipment eliminates the need for excessive effort during the harvest, according to Aurora, and reduced the need for hired labor.
Data from the group indicate that 87% of the volume harvested by members is already done with the help of bins. The cooperative even proposes to finance the purchase of the equipment with interest between 5% and 6% per year, with a term of 36 months.
In 2023, Cooperativa Vônicola Aurora had revenues of R$786.2 million, 4% more than in 2022. This means that the group did not sell less due to the February scandal. For this year, the expectation is to grow revenues by another 10%. The goal for 2026 is to reach R$1 billion.
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*The report traveled to Bento Gonçalves at the invitation of Cooperativa Vinícola Aurora
