Brazil Fazenda Salto Espresso

This lot is made up coffee from two producers in southern Minas Gerais, Elza Leopoldino and Sylvinha Memberg.

From a very young age, Elza has always worked in the coffee plantations in her region. Still very young, Elza met Afonso and they soon got married. Together, they worked for 18 years on a large coffee farm in the city of Nepomuceno in southern Minas Gerais. With a lot of hard work, they managed to buy a small property in the next town, Lavras. They are a small family, working in the family farming model. Most plantations are young trees, so harvesting is done by hand and the bigger and older trees are hand-picked. As they are family properties, they do not have permanent employees, but during the harvest, they hire 2 employees to assist in the processes. All coffee batches are natural, sun-dried. They are very concerned about preserving the environment and are always concerned about keeping everything in perfect harmony, between nature and coffee production.

Since her great-grandparents' generation, Sylvia's family has been involved in coffee growing. She remembers her childhood and adolescence, running and playing in the farm's patios and coffee plantations. Coffee has always been a great passion! Sylvia studied business administration in the city of Rio de Janeiro and when she returned to Minas Gerais in 2000, she also studied Business Coffee. From there, she is always updating with innovations and technologies. Sylvia started the job with her father, Mr. Reinaldo Meinberg and his brothers. In 2008, she married Aurélio Felizali, an agronomist specializing in specialty coffees. In addition to being partners in life, they are also partners in coffee plantations. This union leveraged the great passion for specialty coffees and with that, they are increasingly seeking excellence in production and quality. In 2018, they bought the Fazenda Terras Altas, in the city of Ingaí. The farm has a different microclimate, excellent altitude and carefully chosen varieties aiming at quality and productivity. In addition to the excellence in the production of specialty coffees, they are concerned with sustainable production. Always aiming to preserve the environment.

As part of the Cocatrel Cooperative in Tres Pontas, Sul De Minas there is a group that was started this year for the female farmers who are part of the Cooperative. The Cafeina Group are made up of 21 % of the members of the Cocatrel Cooperative equating to 1154 women producers. The idea was to encourage the engagement of these female producers in the decision making process of the Cooperative. They are organised to have meeting every two months to improve their education and knowledge but also to increase their visibility in the coffee growing community and promote their involvement. Iandra Vilela who is head of the Cafeina group for Cocatrel was recognised this year with an award fro 'Women in Coffee'. She won it for being an inspiration to other Women in the coffee industry in Brazil.