About This Coffee
The story of Fazenda Amizade is the story of a friendship between two families who both loved coffee culture. While one family, based in Brazil, gained the experience and access to technology that would enable them to be good coffee growers, the other family worked on the specifics of investment and the business side of the farm. In 2005, the families acquired the land in Campos Altos, Minas Gerais and named the it “Fazenda Amizade” from the Portuguese word “Amizade” meaning “friendship.”
Harvest & Post-Harvest
There are a growing number of farms in Brazil that are focusing more on cup quality than volume. These farms approach growing, harvesting and processing with a great attention to detail. The altitude and volcanic soil in Brazil are prime conditions for growing the balanced, well-bodied coffees of Brazil.
Wide, flat farms make mechanisation easier and allow for reduced production costs, making Brazil one of the few countries with consistently comfortable margins in the face of low world prices. The relatively flat landscape across many of Brazil’s coffee regions combined with high minimum wages has led most farms to opt for mechanical harvesting over selective hand-picking. In the past, this meant strip-picking was the norm; however, today’s mechanical harvesters are increasingly sensitive, meaning that farms can harvest only fully ripe cherries at each pass, which is good news for specialty-oriented producers.
In some cases, farms may use a combination of manual and mechanised picking. In this case, ripe coffee is picked using a derricadeira – a sort of mechanised rake that uses vibration to harvest ripe cherry. A tarp is spanned between coffee trees to capture the cherry as it falls. Harvested cherries are then sorted and cleaned using sieves to remove unripe, overripe and damaged cherries along with dirt, soil, twigs and leaves, which can be picked out from the top of the sieve.
After harvest at Fazenda Amizade, the cherry is laid on patios to dry. Later they are milled and packed for export.
Coffee in Brazil
Just under 40% of all coffee in the world is produced in Brazil - around 3.7 million metric tons annually. With so much coffee produced, it’s no wonder that the country produces a wide range of qualities. Brazil produces everything from natural Robusta, to the neutral and mild Santos screen 17/18, to the distinctive Rio Minas 17/18. In recent years, Brazilian producers have also begun investing more heavily in specialty coffee production. Through our in-country partners in Brazil, including our sister company, we are able to provide a wide range of Brazilian coffees to our clients: from macrolot to microlot.
Today, the most prolific coffee growing regions of Brazil are Espirito Santo, São Paulo, Minas Gerais, and Bahia. Most Brazilian coffee is grown on large farms that are built and equipped for maximizing production output through mechanical harvesting and processing. The relatively flat landscape across many of Brazil’s coffee regions combined with high minimum wages has led most farms to opt for this type of mechanical harvesting over selective hand-picking.
In the past, mechanization meant that strip-picking was the norm; however, today’s mechanical harvesters are increasingly sensitive, meaning that farms can harvest only fully ripe cherries at each pass, which is good news for specialty-oriented producers.
In many cases and on less level sections of farms, a mixed form of ‘manual mechanized’ harvesting may be used, where ripe coffee is picked using a derriçadeira – a sort of mechanized rake that uses vibration to harvest ripe cherry. A tarp is spanned between coffee trees to capture the cherry as it falls.
With the aid of these newer, more selective technologies, there’s a growing number of farms who are increasingly concerned with – and able to deliver - cup quality.