Thanks to the IWCA Italy (International Women’s Coffee Alliance, Italian chapter), of which we at Ernani have been members since 2022, I had the incredible opportunity to visit coffee plantations for the first time.
As our first destination, we selected Brazil, with which we have established a great relationship of mutual trust and collaboration over the years. In particular with the Cafè da Rosa project, part of the Brazilian women’s alliance, set up by Flavia and Gustavo and their company Arara coffees with which they export coffee.
Flavia and Gustavo were also our guides for the entire week spent on the plantation tour. From the first moment, they proved to be welcoming and extraordinary people, with an immense heart and an unbridled passion for this world.
Their primary mission is to make growers strong, educated and knowledgeable, so that they get proper recognition for their hard work.
Here they are:
In the six days we spent together discovering the Minas Gerais region, known for the high quality of the coffees produced, I was able to better understand the entire production process and consequently the entire coffee chain.
To sum up: it was an experience full of strong emotions, made of scents, colours and people.
The stages
We departed from Milan to land in São Paulo, from there we immediately got into the car, heading towards Santa Rita de Cassia, Sapucai City for our first stop at the Agrorigem testing laboratory run by all the women of the second generation of farmers.
Towards evening we arrived in Santo Antonio do Amparo City to visit the Peixoto family farm.
The next morning we arrived at Divisa Farm near Olivera City, and then moved to Luiza’s Trunk Tapera Farm in the afternoon, near Boa Esperanca, a beautiful lakeside town.
On the third day, we spent wonderful hours in the company of Maria Helena, owner of Cafe Especial Brunelli, in Ingaì City.
After a day of rest, spent in a pretty historical village called Tiradentes, we then left for the world’s largest cooperative in the coffee sector, to find out about the big companies and their modus operandi. Guaxupe showed us every single step regarding the analyses carried out on the raw coffees before export and all the parameters to divide the beans into batches, each with its own characteristics.
Finally, on the sixth day we concluded our road trip from Lais of Nossa Senora Das Gracas and Eldorado plantation to Ibiraci City. It is her I want to talk to you about today!
Lais Falheiros and Our Lady of Grace
Today I would like to introduce you to the third of the incredible women coffee growers we met: Lais, and the actual grower of our Ernani signature Women’s Coffee.
Lais has truly created an empire in coffee cultivation, but always focusing on the highest quality, regardless of the size of the plantation.
In fact, she is the owner of the Nossa Senhora Das Gracas plantation, in which she grows only Specialty coffee, joined by her husband’s land that goes by the name ‘Fazenda El Dorado’, also an innovative and experimental plantation. Finally, she is the founder of Cocapil, a Specialty cooperative to export only the best coffees from the Alta Mogiana region globally.
In short, her commitment is evident and her skills have led her to a prominent role within the coffee industry.
However, she told us that achieving all this was not easy, even more so because she was a woman.
Lais pursued her studies and began her career in politics. However, she soon realised that she lacked contact with the land, a value handed down by her family.
When her father died, it was her mother who carried on the business. Unfortunately, however, she too soon fell ill and Lais decided that she wanted to continue the hard work started by her parents. Unexpectedly, her mother blocked her intentions, leaving the entire caffeicola inheritance to Lais’s husband Elvis, as, in her words, ‘This is a man’s job’.
Lais suffered greatly for this choice, but she did not give up until she got what was rightfully hers and the rest is history…
Grown Coffee
Its plantation specifically is located in Brazil, in the Minas Gerais region of Alta Mogiana in Ibiraci City, between 1000-1200m altitude.
Lais produces Specialty-certified coffees between 81 and 88 points, processed by any processing method, from natural and washed classics, through honey and the newer aerobic and anaerobic fermentations, even finishing with a very special dark room, which we have already presented here.
Consider that the annual yield is around 400,000 sacks, which I guess doesn’t tell you anything, but it really is a huge number, and if you also think that it is all Specialty, it really is amazing!
The most commonly treated varieties are: Geisha, Arara, Bourbon, Red Catucaí, Catiguá and Topaz.
The end result is intensely aromatic, faultless coffees with the most diverse aromatic notes, from chocolate to fresh and dried fruits, citrus fruits to spices and much more.
Innovation and Sustainability
I could talk for hours here and show you dozens of videos taken at their processing station, but I will try to be brief.
Lais and Elvis are working on some important sustainable actions such as zero carbon emissions, coffee regeneration and reduced deforestation.
Moreover, they are definitely the most innovative plantation, as they are the only ones in the world with a brand new machine, as big as a palace, that allows them to experiment with any coffee processing technique, to obtain endless results from the most varied beans.
This machine is still only a prototype, and there is only one specimen at their plantation for the purpose of testing and improving it.
Here they told us about everything, how this structure presents:
- Coffee fermentation silos with controlled temperature and humidity
- Possibility of customising different processes according to customer requirements
- Machinery for the precise and accurate separation of ripe, unripe and rotten drupes. This is one of their secrets to only ever having high quality
- Other machinery for the removal of leaves, stones and wood, as well as the division by density and size of grains
- Washed and semi-washed processing tanks
- And so much more
This is almost completely automated, especially for the protection of workers and the control of each individual step, while being able to process large quantities of grain.
Beyond coffee
After finishing the first, more formative moment and after tasting their coffee at the Cocapil headquarters, we moved on to an informal moment at their home with lots of free animals in the garden and a delicious dinner.
Here we ate, drank and danced a lot, remembering that all those who work in the café chose this sector because they respect nature and love being around people, sharing passion, memories and laughter.
It is the people that make this sector special and different from any other.
Ci tengo quindi a ringraziarla per l’ospitalità e l’accoglienza che la contraddistinguono 💛
Discovering the Nossa Senhora Das Gracas plantation of Lais Falheiros
Thanks to the IWCA Italy (International Women’s Coffee Alliance, Italian chapter), of which we at Ernani have been members since 2022, I had the incredible opportunity to visit coffee plantations for the first time. As our first destination, we selected Brazil, with which we have established a great relationship of mutual trust and collaboration over […]
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