La Esperança (Campos Altos) Natural - Brazil

Fazenda Esperança is located high in the hills of Minas Gerais – one of Brazil’s premier coffee producing regions, and was first planted under coffee in 1977 by Francisco Sebastiao Ferreira.

In 1982, Francisco and his wife decided it was time to divide the large farm between their five children. However, after doing so, the youngest of the brood decided that he wanted to farm coffee full time. He gradually purchased all the parcels that had been gifted to his brothers and, today, has managed to put Fazenda Esperança ‘back together again.’ In particular, Fabio has worked to make the farm a manifestation of his passion for coffee farming. Today, a full 116 hectares of the farm’s expansive 273 hectares have been put under traditional and experimental varieties, and Fabio has invested in both infrastructure and in implementing the best agricultural practices across his farm.   

The farm’s total 116 hectares of area under coffee includes 10 hectares of Mundo Novo, 5 hectares of Acacia, 7 hecatres of Catigua and 80 hectares of Bourbon. For the 2016 season and beyond, Fabio hopes to continue innovating and improving his production. He also wants to provide increasing quantities of his farm’s production to the speciality market. In order to achieve this, he is working closely with Mercanta’s partner at origin to monitor coffee quality and is taking their advice on processing and lot separation.

2015 is Mercanta’s first year purchasing Fabio’s coffee; but we look forward to the great things we are sure he will achieve!