Brazil Mogiana 17/18 FC SS

Coffee Background

As the world's largest coffee producer, Brazilian lots often come from larger estates that use highly mechanized processing strategies to manage larger volumes. The Mogiana region, split between the states of São Paulo and Minas Gerais, is the most renowned of three major Brazilian growing regions. This region has rolling hills and uneven terrain lending to farms that are small to medium in size. This particular lot comes from Cooperativa dos Cafeicultores e Agropecuáristas de Ibiraci (Cocapil), which was established in 2001 and currently has 1,200 active members. Cocapil producers typically have farms that average 60 acres in size. Each producer cultivates and harvest their own cherries and places them on patios to dry to 15 percent moisture after which the coffee is moved to mechanical driers to precisely finish the drying to 11 percent moisture. Coffee is carefully stored until it is time for milling and export, which all takes place at the Cocapil dry mill where traceability and quality control are carefully managed so each producer can be paid according to the quality of their coffee. The direct incentives for improving quality have been recognized in Brazil’s Cup of Excellence competition with repeated top finishes from Cocapil members. Cocapil has also invested in a project called Cerejas do café (the cherries of coffee) to promote and increase the participation of women throughout the supply chain.