Farm Histroy

Sitio Santa Cruz is located in the Municipality of Carmo de Minas, in South Minas Gerais, at the rim of the Mantiqueira Mountain Range, at an altitude of 1,150 meters. The region is distinct and very good for the production of high quality beans and of Brazil's best cups. The topography is mountainous; the climate is adequate for coffee growing, with 1,800 mm of average annual rainfalls and 18º C average temperature.

José Telmo produces coffee in an environmentally sustainable way, and is always concerned with the environment. The farm native forest reserves, which provide shelter to large vegetal species and numerous wild animals.

Jose Telmo is a member of APROCAM, an association that gives priority to improving coffee quality and to the commercialization of specialty coffees, and is a member of the COCARIVE Cooperative.

Coffee processing system

Coffee is harvested selectively, and when the fruit are ripe. It is performed manually on cloth, thus avoiding the contact of the beans with the soil. On the same day the beans are picked, they are placed in bags and transported to the processing area. Coffee processing is carried out at the Sertão Group facilities, where the cherry beans are sent right after they are picked up. In those processing facilities, the coffee is washed, pulped and dried on a terrace and drier, always following quality standards and procedures.

As soon as the beans arrive at the processing facilities, the coffee is washed, an operation that also separates the dry beans from the cherry beans, and subsequently it goes through the cherry pulper, that besides puling the cherry beans, separates them from the green beans.

The pulped cherry coffee is transferred to be dried on a concrete terrace, and, when required, the beans are placed in a drier at the final drying stage for them to reach an ideal humidity. After the coffee is dry it is placed in wooden bins for a period of at least 30 days, to rest and for the homogeneity of the beans. When the beans are removed from the bins, always separated by lots, they are ready to receive final processing and are transported to the COCARIVE warehouses in Carmo de Minas, State of Minas Gerais.

Concern with quality

Since production begins, SITIO SANTA CRUZ receives directions from the agronomists of Pró-Café and of Cocarive. The continuous search to improve the beans and cup standards is a priority. All coffee lots are cupped and monitored year after year. The choice for specialty coffees production require plenty of attention and dedication from the producer. Traceability is indispensable not only to understand the property and the product but also to arrive at a decision as to when to replace a plantation and as to the varieties that will be planted.