|
Fazenda Santa Terezinha belongs to the Almeida family since 1915 and is managed by Agronomist Paulo Sérgio de Almeida, who received his degree from UFLA, and by his brothers Celso de Almeida and Helder de Almeida.
Paulo Sérgio Almeida restarted his family's coffee production, continuing the tradition begun with his father. Not to run any risks with the frosts, the plantations are in the highest parts of the property, at an altitude of 1,150 meters, in very fertile, deep soils, with mild climate and many native trees. The farm has three areas of permanent environmental preservation, where there are many wild animals.
The farm has 24 permanent employees who receive salaries 15% above the average of the region, live in houses with electricity, piped water and sewage, and have free milk and coffee.
In addition to coffee, the farm produces milk, pigs, corn for ensilage and sugarcane for forage. All residues from cattle and pig breeding, leftovers from grass, coal, sawdust and coffee husk are used as compost to fertilize the coffee plantations and the areas where corn and sugarcane are planted, because Fazenda Santa Terezinha is an organic farm and does not use any type of chemical fertilizers.
Since coffee production was implemented in 1983, no herbicides or insecticides were used in the plantations. The owner always clears the areas between the coffee lines. The farm was certified as Organic producer from 2000 onwards by the Instituto de Biodinâmica [Biodynamics Institute] of Botucatu - Project MG 050.
Coffee processing system
To ensure quality, harvesting is made manually and on cloth. Two or three harvestings are carried out, when only the ripe beans are selected. Immediately after, the beans pass through a suspended dryer of the Maravilha type, made in the farm, and by gravity it is transferred to the pulper.
The pulped natural cherry beans are placed to dry in three suspended hot houses, and the other beans are dried in cement terraces. Coffees are stored according to variety, planting field according to harvest and type, and are only mixed after processing and cupping.
Concern with quality
Quality is the result of several factors, among which the attitude of the owners and their employees, which is to work hard to improve it.
The characteristics of the area where the coffee is planted, as well as the high fertility soils, mild climate, altitude of 1,150 meters, and the great care exerted during all phases, from planting to final processing, also have a direct influence on quality.
Each year, improvements in soil fertility are obtained by the organic management applied to the farm, such as the use of biomass, composting etc. Results of this work are in the awards obtained in 2001 - first place in the Cup of Excellence Contest, and in 2002, when it was the third in the Cup of Excellence Contest.
|
