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The initial nucleus of Fazenda Cachoeira do Cambuí was acquired in the 1940s by the parents of the current owners, Geraldo Magelo dos Santos and Ana Teixeira dos Santos, from Mrs. Santos' grandfather. Approximately 30 years ago the property was transferred to the seven children of the couple, and currently only three of the children are at the farm. They are always striving to bring to the property built during the last decades leading edge coffee plantation techniques, especially with elements and guidance received from BSCA - Associação Brasileira de Cafés Especiais, which the Santos family joined as a member four years ago, in their constant search for quality.
The coffee processing structure of Fazenda Cachoeira do Cambuí, where the classified lot was processed has 4,000 m2 of concrete terraces, a washer, a cherry pulper, a rotary dryer and two pre-washers, one for 15,000 liters and another for 10,000 liters, as well as a 240 m2 suspended and covered terrace.
The current coffee processing structure, began during the 1998/1999 crop, basically consists of 4,000 m2 of concrete terraces, a washer, a cherry pulper, a rotary drier, two pre-washers, one for 15,000 liters and another for 10,000 liters, as well as a suspended and covered terrace, built during the 2003 crop, to improve the quality of pulped natural coffees. The location of the suspended terrace, under the effect of a strong and constant current of wind, with direct sunshine from sunrise to sunset, can be considered decisive for the quality of the pre-selected lot, as well as of the other lots produced in Fazenda Cachoeira do Cambuí.
To avoid polluting water sources and creeks with the disposal of water used to prepare natural pulped cherry coffees, decanting tanks and recycling tanks were built.
Fazenda Cachoeira do Cambuí is concerned with land erosion, and implemented contour lines, twelve wells to capture rain waters, eight water impounding reservoirs, and it adequately handles pests and wild growth.
The property has more than ten hectares of rain forest, where hard wood such as jacaranda are maintained in the middle of the coffee plantations, also serving as a protection against the winds. With this same purpose, thousands of grevilleas are planted, and seasonally, guandu black beans are planted between the coffee rows.
Further to planting trees close to the water impounding reservoirs and creeks, a broad and planned foresting and reforesting project will be implemented next year, with the purpose of restoring biodiversity to all the areas where indiscriminate deforestation occurred in the past.
The farm is managed by the three partners who maintain a joint responsibility structure involving their employees, in which the three brothers who were born in the property act as supervisors/monitors, dividing among themselves the tasks concerning planting and handling plantations as well as coffee harvesting and preparation. The distribution of awards during the crop and harvest stimulates the employees' performance.
The twenty-five employees of the farm, all of them strictly registered and working under Brazilian labor laws, including five-day weeks, implemented at the employees' request. They have areas to plant food, receive milk daily at no charge, and receive support to build and purchase their own houses.
In recent years, the farm expanded its production from 300 bags to 2400 bags, and produced approximately 500 bags of natural pulped cherry coffees during the current harvest, always concerned with maintaining its activities according to socially fair conditions.
On September 1st, 2004, Fazenda Cachoeira do Cambuí was audited by the Swiss certifying entity SGS, and obtained a favorable opinion to be certified as part of BSCA's program, where it has been a member since 2001.
Coffee processing system
Coffee is harvested manually because the topography of the farm does not allow its automation. Coastal harvesters may be adopted when the manufacturer completes the equipment improvements, which is still in its experimental phase.
Coffee is washed two to three times a day, in order to prevent any type of fermentation, in a washer with six thousand liter/hour capacity.
Beans are dried in a suspended terrace, where they are placed as soon as they leave the washer (boia beans), and directly from the cherry pulper (pulped cherry beans). The layers are very fine, to allow the beans to be totally exposed to the sun and under the effects of intense ventilation. Until the beans are dried they are constantly turned from the nylon net at an average of 15 times a day. After the pergamino's humidity has been removed, the coffee is transferred to the rotary pre-driers for the final drying phase, at temperatures below 40 degrees Celsius, until they reach 11.5 degrees of humidity.
In order to obtain traceability, the spreadsheets identify the production of each planting field, the drier in which the beans are processed and the respective lot. Furthermore, the lot is deposited in a third party warehouse. In the future, eight to ten bins will be built to store the pulped natural coffee in pergamino, in order to maintain its characteristics and qualities for a longer period of time.
Concern with quality
Planting Bourbon coffee is being intensified, in order to obtain the duplication of planted coffee trees from the current 260,000 to 500 or 600,000 trees, in the coming years, with the purpose of obtaining quality coffees and improved cups. Plantation treatment, from planting to harvesting is being monitored by an agronomist who is a pioneer in implementing and perfecting worldwide coffee production quality standards.
Harvesting in performed in the planting fields where the percentage of green beans is the lowest possible. The picked coffee remains in the plantation for the shortest time possible - just a few hours - in order to avoid that bean quality and integrity are affected.
On the suspended terrace, maximum care is taken to avoid affecting the integrity of the beans; coffee is spread in very thin layers and is rotated constantly during the whole day, before it is placed in rotary driers.
The beans are stored in a third party warehouse, always taking the necessary precautions not to mix lots of different planting fields or different characteristics. A cupping room will be soon installed at the farm to identify the characteristics of each lot.
Beans are delivered to the warehouse on a daily basis during the harvest, in the farm's own vehicles.
In the 2nd BSCA Quality Contest, Fazenda Cachoeira do Cambuí received the third award among eighteen finalists; in the third contest, held in 2001, it had a lot included among the 147 lots that were pre-selected by the regional jury; and in the fourth edition, it was also one of the finalists.
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