Fazenda Guariroba - Brazil Naturals 2016 Verified listing

History of the farm

Grower Homero Paiva draws upon a long heritage of coffee production. He represents the 5^th generation and a new one is already following in the family’s footsteps. Homero’s uncle, Fernando Paiva, a wise and visionary man, now 90 years old, started to produce good quality coffees in the 1940s. At that time, he saw the potential of the Santo Antônio do Amparo region for the specialty natural coffees. And he was right.

Based on his belief, passion and hard work, he did a lot for the specialty coffee sector in Brazil and brought many to his side. Fernando is one of the founders of the Brazil Specialty Coffee Association and of Sancoffee. At the awards ceremony, when Henrique Cambraia, the current president of Sancoffee, received the first-place award on behalf of Homero Paiva, he said: “I would like to praise Mr. Fernando for having paved our way toward this amazing outcome.”

After many years, Homero Paiva started his own coffee production in the same farm he grew up. He has decided to focus on specialty coffees and sustainable growing system. And to achieve these goals he has based himself on his family history, knowledge, strongly engaged team and love. Nowadays, Fazenda Guariroba is certified by UTZ (under code UTZ_ CF1000005553, valid until June 1, 2017).

It is only the beginning!

Coffee processing system

Natural Yellow Catucaí, situated at about 1100 meters of elevation, was carefully selected by hand, slowly dried on patios, and finalized at low temperature in a drying machine to entirely preserve the cell walls of the beans. The Natural lado a lado process is done strictly in this way: 1) selectively hand-picked mature cherries are sent straight to the patio – no water tank contact; 2) 1st drying stage: during the first 3 days, the cherries remain untouched in a thin layer (side by side) in order to have the free water taken quickly out, avoiding unwanted fermentations; 3) 2nd drying stage: the cherries are put in a thicker layer and they are raked carefully around 10 times a day for another 5-7 days; 4) the final drying stage is carried out in drying machines at a maximum temperatures of 37ºC. At this stage, the water molecules are strongly bound to the cells of the beans. So, it is necessary to remove this water very slowly.

Concern about quality

Fazenda Guariroba is a member of Sancoffee, which has a very distinctive business model. It involves a relationship platform to connect our growers to specialty coffee buyers around the world. Through Sancoffee, relationships are developed and strengthened. Coffees are prepared and exported direct from the origin. All our activities are guided by the importance we place on quality, consistency and transparency. Sancoffee undertakes several projects in partnership with research institutes and universities toward continuous improvement in quality and consistency. The “Quality Mining and Learning Project” is always going around the coffee farms to: 1) look for the highest potential lots from among a wide range of varieties and coffee plantations; 2) motivate growers and their co-workers to keep the focus on specialty coffee; and, 3) teach them how to consistently produce high quality coffees. These efforts have been worth it. In the current edition of the Cup of Excellence in Brazil, we had 4 coffee lots in the finals. Two of them placed as National Winners (Naturals) – Fazenda Mumbuca and Fazenda Samambaia – and Fazenda Guariroba won first place in the Naturals category, and was a presidential winner, scoring above 90 points.