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 a first destination we have selected Brazil, with which we have established a great relationship of trust and mutual collaboration over the years. In particular with the Cafè da Rosa project, part of the Brazilian women’s alliance, created by Flavia and Gustavo and their coffee export company Arara coffees.
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. And it’s about them that I’m going to tell you about today!
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 Senhora Das Gracas and Eldorado plantation to Ibiraci City.
The Peixoto Family
The Peixoto family represents a story of traditions, dreams and hard work, to achieve the goals of a lifetime!
The four brothers started working in the coffee sector only thirty years ago. Their big dream was to create a plantation, an idyllic space in the mountains, between red earth and green plants, with unique colors, peace, nature and above all passion.
Unfortunately, however, they had no training or knowledge on coffee cultivation, much less on how to obtain specialty coffees, that is, highly selected coffees.
They then first started working hard on many other plantations, learning a new bit every day and in the meantime trying to save as much money as possible.
The older sister was the one who managed to learn the world of specialty coffee best, immediately showing herself to be efficient and entrepreneurial.
Ten years ago they managed to save enough money to buy their own land, build a house, buy the first seedlings and then start making their dream come true!
It was now inevitable that the older sister would arrive at the head.
Over the years, it has stood out for its personality and tenacity, winning awards for sustainability and the extremely high quality of its coffee.
Why IWCA?
The older sister immediately proposed to enter the IWCA Brazil circuit, understanding the great potential that the partnership could have… she wasn’t wrong.
IWCA helped them to train technically, improving the cultivation and processing of the harvested drupes and raw beans.
It also helped them to become known on the international scene, selling their Specialty coffee to the best buyers.
For this we are grateful to the association!
Grown Coffee
Their specific plantation is located in Brazil, in the region of Minas Gerais, Campo das Vertentes, Santo Antônio do Amparo, over 1200m above sea level.
They are very attentive to the environment, as they have entered into an innovative project in collaboration with Ufla, the University of Lavras, in order to understand how to adapt a coffee plantation to the ongoing climate changes.
To date they only process one variety, Arara, which is then processed using the natural method or anaerobic fermentation.
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.
We thank them for being an example of development of their community and their reference area, honored and recognized also at government level!
An inspiration for all the new generations!
Marketing, E-commerce e Social Media Manager
Coffee Lover
