Joaquim José de Carvalho Dias

Brazil Specialty Coffee Association

Winning farm of the Brazil Cup of Excellence
Competition and Auction - 2001 edition

Joaquim José de Carvalho Dias
Fazenda Recreio

Characteristics of the coffee lot:

Processing System: Pulped Natural
Variety: Yellow Bourbon
Lot size: 21 bags
Average score: 82.33

Characteristics of the farm:

Property: Fazenda Recreio
E-mail: fazendarecreio@pocos-net.com.br
Location: The property is located at the boarder of the States of Minas Gerais and São Paulo, in the Mogiana Region, in the municipality of São Sebastião da Grama (SP).
Total area: 605 hectares
Coffee growing area (according to varieties):
Yellow Bourbon - 128.35 hectares
Yellow Icatú - 65.26 hectares
Other varieties (Catuaí, Mundo Novo and Acaiá) - 51.07 hectares

Aerial view of the farm

The farm belongs to the Carvalho Dias family since 1890, when the grand-mother of the owner arrived at the region to be treated with the medicinal springs of the City of Poços de Caldas (State of Minas Gerais). Fazenda Recreio is located in a valley where the average temperature is 19^oC, the altitude varies between 1,200 and 1,400 meters, and average rainfalls is 1,800mm, ideal characteristics for high quality coffee production.

With a total area of 605 hectares, of which 244.25 are used for coffee plantations, currently 128.35 hectares (52%) is of the Yellow Bourbon variety, known as an excellent quality coffee; 65.26 hectares of Yellow Icatu (27%), which is similar to Bourbon in terms of coffee cups; and 51.07 hectares of other varieties, such as Catuaí, Mundo Novo and Acaiá. There are 502,823 coffee trees in the property. The older plantations, still productive, were planted in 1936 by the father of the owner. This year, Fazenda Recreio harvested 107^th crop.

Coffee plantation

Water source

The property has 72.6 hectares of native woods, with a large quantity of water sources that are preserved with their ciliary woods.

Graduated in Agronomy by the Federal University of Viçosa in 1940, Joaquim José de Carvalho Dias currently has a grandson working with him, who also graduated in Agronomy by the Federal University of São Carlos, managing the property.

Since the farm's topography is rough, the coffee plantation maintenance and the harvest is made manually

The employees have a health center, school, soccer field, social club and church, in addition to being trained periodically by SENAR, improving and qualifying the farm's labor force.

Aerial view of the farm

Coffee processing system:
Coffee is picked on cloth, which guarantees that the beans do not touch the soil, maintaining their quality. The coffee processing structure is complete, with washers, classifiers, pulpers, 10,000 m2 of terraces and dryers. Currently, dryers are fueled by LPG-type gas, which maintains a better uniformity in drying and does not pollute the environment.

Blossoming phase

Cherry beans

Drying terrace