Farm Histroy

Sitio Monte Alegre is located in the municipality of Carmo de Minas, South Minas Gerais, in the Mantiqueira Mountain Range rim, at an altitude of 1,200 meters. The region is unique and favors the production of high quality beans and the best cups in Brazil. Its topography is mountainous and the climate good for coffee growing, with average annual rainfalls of approximately 1800 mm and an average temperature of 18º C.

Mrs. Pereira Carneiro cultivates coffee always focused on environment preservation and sustainability. The farm has native forest reserves which shelter wild animals and plants.

Mrs. Pereira Carneiro is a member of APROCAM, an association that gives priority to improving specialty coffees quality and commercialization, and of COCARIVE.

Coffee processing system

The selective harvesting begins when the fruit is ripe, and is done manually on cloth, for the beans not to touch the soil. On the same day in which the beans are picked they are placed in bags and transported to the processing area. Coffee processing is made in the Sertão Group processing center, where the cherry beans are transported right after they are picked. In the processing center, the coffee is washed, pulped and dried on terraces and driers, always following quality standards.

When the coffee arrives at the processing center, it is washed, when the dry beans are separated, and subsequently it goes through the cherry pulper that in addition to pulping the cherry beans, separate them from the green beans.

The pulped cherry coffee is transported to a concrete terrace to dry, and whenever required the beans are placed in a drier in the final drying stage to reach their ideal humidity level. After the coffee is dried, it is placed in wooden bins for at least 30 days to rest and for the beans to become homogeneous. When the beans are removed from the bins, always separated in lots, they are ready to be processed and transferred to COCARIVE's warehouses, in Carmo de Minas, State of Minas Gerais.

Concern with quality

Sítio Monte Alegre's coffees are supervised by agronomists of Pró-Café and of COCARIVE since the beginning of coffee production. The continuous search for bean improvements and cup standards are a priority. All coffee lots are cupped and monitored continuously. The option to produce specialty coffees demands much attention and dedication from the producer. Traceability is indispensable not only to understand the property and its products, but also to arrive at a decision concerning when to replace a plantation and the varieties that will be planted.