About This Coffee
Mauro Mendes Ferreira purchased Fazenda Pedra Preta in the 1980s. Mauro had grown up passing through the farm on his way to school and his fond memories of the journey gave additional meaning to the land.
Today, Eduardo F. de Souza, a member of the Capistrano Ferreira family owns and manages Fazenda Pedra Preta. The farm continues to strive towards excellence in sustainable specialty coffee production.
Cultivation
Fazenda Pedra Preta is the biggest preservation area in Careaçu. The farm plays a fundamental role in the region’s ecosystem. The farm is nestled between two forests that are home to majestic native species, including toucans, howler monkeys, ocelots and maned wolves.
The soil is mineral-rich. High elevations and stable weather conditions create an ideal environment for coffee cultivation.
Fazenda Pedra Preta pioneered a regenerative agroforestry system called Tropicalia AFS. Coffee is shade grown and fertilized with organic fertilizer.
Harvest & Post-Harvest
After harvest, cherry is laid on patios to sundry. Workers rake cherry frequently to ensure even drying. It takes approximately 7 days for cherry to dry.
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.