“My life and my family’s life are intertwined with the history of Ecocitrus,” summarizes Maique Kochenborger, who served as president of the cooperative during the 2019–2021 term. The cooperative was founded when Maique was just 13 years old. “I grew up alongside it,” he adds. In the Kochenborger family, there are three members in the cooperative: Maique, Irineu, and Darvin, who farm in Montenegro – RS.

“We got involved because we wanted to move away from agrochemicals,” explains Irineu Kochenborger, Maique’s father and one of the 15 founding members of the cooperative. He recalls that the founders’ trust in the mission was so strong that they even mortgaged their land as collateral to secure funding.

Irineu was deeply involved in the creation of Reaviva, the composting plant operated by Ecocitrus, founded in 1995. The goal was to produce organic fertilizer for use in members' organic orchards. At the time, one of the biggest challenges for the cooperative's farmers was finding inputs free of chemicals. “I kept going, staying involved, and then Maique grew up and took my place,” he says, indicating that the transition was natural.

Maique has held many roles within the cooperative: truck driver, fruit grading assistant at the agro-industrial unit, farmers’ market vendor, tractor operator, member of the Fiscal Council, treasurer... and eventually, in 2019–2021, president — a path that gave him a complete understanding of the cooperative’s needs.

Another member involved in managing the Kochenborger family’s farms is Darvin, Maique’s brother, who calls himself a “curious member.” He joined in 2009, five years after Maique. Darvin credits Ecocitrus for his decision to stay in rural life: “If it weren’t for the cooperative, I wouldn’t see much of a future in growing citrus.”

It’s not hard to find Maique and Darvin cracking jokes with those around them, bringing a lighter tone even to serious settings. When asked to choose one word that defines Ecocitrus, they both answer the same — separately, without knowing the other’s response: “passion.”

If it’s up to the Kochenborger family, Ecocitrus is powered not only by numbers and results, but by emotion — proving that cooperativism and ecological citrus farming are not just viable but deeply meaningful pursuits.