Fazenda Paraíso

Producer

Antônio Fortes

Location

Pedralva, MG

Altitude

1.300m ~ 1.560m

Farm Area

90ha

Coffee Area

80ha

Processing Methods

Naturals and Pulped Naturals

Certificates

AAA Nespresso.

Coffee Varieties

Yellow Bourbon, Mundo Novo, Yellow Catuaí.

Other Farm Products

Bananas and Tangerines.
Farm history
This history starts in 1977 when Antonio Fortes bought his first piece of land to produce vegetables, bananas and a small amount of coffee. In the first couple of years he noticed that the coffee growing activities were much more cost-effective and started planting more and more seedlings in the period.

Persistence is the key
After these 2 years increasing the coffee crops and the yield of the farming came a tough moment: a hard hoarfrost which damaged almost 100% of his plantings. Antonio didnt’t back down on and started all over again. Unfortunately, two years later came another dreadful frost, devastating the crops all over again. And, again, he decided to give another chance for his crops.

Learning by experience
While taking care of his crops, Antonio Fortes discovered that the trees planted in consortium with bananas grew stronger agains the frosts and started to invest in this method of planting.

Discovering the potential
In 2008 Antonio had the first contact with CarmoCoffees, which was responsible for encouraging him to participate in the specialty coffees quality contests.
From this moment, Antonio and his family discovered the real potential of the farm production, always well qualified in these contests. Now at 81 years old, he continues to work hard day after day on the farm, taking proper care of the trees and beans.

The future
“Improve production quality from the agronomic part to harvesting and processing is my goal. I want to keep my coffees on the top, to match the highness of my own farm, the highest-placed coffee farm in Brazil.”

Awards
BSCA Cup of Excellence winners, both in Naturals and Pulped Naturals editions, in several years.