Sítio Castelhano is located in the Municipality of Pedralva, South of Minas, in a mountainous region, at an altitude between 1200 and 1400 meters, therefore ensuring the high quality of its final products.

Coffee was planted in the farm during the last eight years, and their owners (Makoto Wakabayashi and Carlos Roberto dos Santos) opted to work in a partnership system, currently with 11 families.

Coffee processing system

Coffee is picked manually on cloth due to the rough topography and when the percentage of ripe beans is high.

The harvested coffee is washed, pulped and spread on the terrace on the same day it is picked, where the beans will remain until the pre-drying phase is completed. Subsequently, the drying phase is completed in a suspended terrace, and immediately afterwards the beans are bagged and stored for distribution. The coffee humidity level is regularly monitored.

Concern with quality

The topography of the land results in a production planning directed more to the quality than to the quantity of the beans. The son of one of the owners, an agronomist, monitors the plantations on a regular basis, providing technical support and overseeing the fertilization schedules, as well as the integrated coffee pests and diseases management.

There is an on-going project to build a hot house near the suspended terrace, to complete the drying of the pulped cherry coffee. To ensure the product’s integrity, the beans are stored in a warehouse in the property.