A Brazil worthy of the term Micro Lot. This bean from S. Minas Gerais brings chocolate and caramel to the nose with a sweet, yes sweet, citrus and chocolate to the cup. Creamy body and pleasing acidity. Great as a drip and wonderful as a single origin espresso.

From vacationing on the farm to working on the farm Glycia Ignez Teixeira Tibúrcio Regina was a hospital pharmacist until the day nostalgia turner her career around. The decision was made in 1998, when she found out her family was about to lose their farm Fazenda Santa Mariana, inherited from their maternal grandparents, if a manager was not hired at the time the father died a couple of years after taking the farm. Located in Carmo da Cachoeira, next to the city of Varginha, Sul de Minas (Minas Gerais), she assumed the coffee farm.

Using in her entrepreneurial skills and dedication to coffee, she invested in the business and turned the farm into a champion. She purchased modern equipment, remodeled the storage containers, made more improvements and planted more coffee. Today, there are about 163 planted acres, with 270 thousand plants on the approximately 133 acres of the property.

To fully master the expertise needed for the new life project, she and her husband Paulo, a medical doctor, attended seminars, conferences, and training sessions, in addition to reading scientific articles online and books on the subject.

All that effort has resulted in well earned laurels for Glycia. The farm was awarded first prize during the 2001, 2004, 2005 and 2009 Minasul de Café Quality Contest, as well as for the 2002 Cafés de Três Pontas contest.

Improved social conditions and compliance with environmental standards are also addressed by the property. Employees have homes with free electricity and milk, and receive medical care. They also have the opportunity to participate in professional training sessions such as on crop protection products; coffee crops pruning and fertilizing; classification and cupping; and the operation and maintenance of tractors, harvesters and coffee stripping machines.

Since 2001, Fazenda Santa Mariana is a member of the South Minas Specialty Coffee Association (SMSCA), a group of quality coffee growers of the area dealing with the foreign market and, since 2004, members of the exporters group called Cooperativa dos Exportadores de Café do Sul de Minas (Coexcafe). It joined the NUCOFFEE platform in 2010.

Source: NUCOFFEE; Honoring Women, 3/2010