José Clênio Pereira - Fazenda da Pedra

Brazil Specialty Coffee Association

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

José Clênio Pereira
Fazenda da Pedra

Characteristics of the coffee lot:

Processing System: Pulped Natural
The winning lot was produced from two plantations of the Yellow Bourbon variety, one of the Fazenda da Pedra and another from the Fazenda Água Limpa.
Variety: Yellow Bourbon
Lot size: 49 bags
Average score: 95.83

Characteristics of the farm:

Properties: Fazenda da Pedra and Fazenda Água Limpa
E-mail: coopcristina@uol.com.br
Location: The property is located in the municipality of Cristina, in Southern Minas Gerais, in a mountainous region in the skirts of the Mantiqueira Mountain Range.
Total area: 140 hectares
Coffee growing area (according to varieties):
Yellow Bourbom: 5 hectares
Yellow Catuai: 20 hectares
Acaiá: 5 hectares

Aerial view of Fazenda da Pedra

Fazenda da Pedra belongs to José Clênio Pereira's family since 1930. During many years the manager of the farm was his father, Sebastião Alves Pereira, who raised his children to continue with the agricultural work of the farms. José Clênio Pereira worked with his father in coffee plantations up to 1995. "Forty-six years of an harmonious relationship and plenty of work. During this period we harvested up to 2 thousand bags of coffee, with high productivity and quality, in addition to producing milk, rice, beans and corn," commented José Clênio Pereira.

After his father died, the property was divided and José Clênio Pereira inherited the main house and a largest part of the land, with a total area of 140 hectares.

Today, the producer maintains the coffee production but is making the conversion to organic cultivars, produces temperate climate fruit already with organic certification and has dairy cattle.

Area of organic fruit production

In 1999, producer José Clênio Pereira decided to convert part of his property into the organic system of production, influenced by his son-in-law (who coordinates the Organic Agriculture Program of Emater, DF) and of his daughter (an Agronomist, who is technically responsible for Fazenda Malunga, which has been holding an organic production certification for the last 12 years).
In the beginning of 2000, the producer requested an inspection by the AAO - Associação de Agricultura Orgânica (Organic Agriculture Association), and since then has been following the directions to redesign the productive system of his farm: adopting more balanced technologies and replacing chemical products by organic handling and correcting the soil with biological products. "I implemented a multifunctional fruit production system, with several intercalated plantations, using green fertilizers and soil coverage. I also began replacing the raw materials in the coffee plantation areas and currently I am working with composts, green fertilizers and bio-fertilizers based on microorganisms, amino acids and micro-nutrients. The next step is to plant trees, the Leucena diversifolia. We will plant 20 trees per hectare, in addition to banana trees", commented Pereira.

The producer filed for the organic production certificate at the Organic Products Certifying Unit of Sapucaí, Pouso Alegre, Minas Gerais, which is a regional certifying unit. "I already have the organic certificate to produce fruit, and I believe I will receive the certificate for coffee soon, because I am strictly following the organic production rules defined by the certifying entities and by Directive no. 007 of the Ministry of Agriculture", completes Pereira.

Partial view of the coffee growing area
from where the winning lot was harvested

Fazenda da Pedra is located in Southern Minas, in a mountainous region in the skirts of the Mantiqueira Mountain Range. Essentially an agricultural region, it possesses fertile lands and large forest reserve areas.

The uneven topography makes it more difficult to treat the plantations, however the work is compensated by the excellent soil, with excellent chemical, biological and structural qualities and by the mild climate, with regular rainfalls, which favors the coffee quality and the taste of the fruit produced in the farms.

During all the years dedicated to his work in the farms, the family had the concern and care of preserving the woods and water sources, therefore the property has plenty of water and a large wildlife.

"Care with the environment is constant in our work, which has made it easier to transfer the system do organic production, in addition to being an attraction in the region, since the farm receives many visitors," said Pereira.

Waterfall at Fazenda da Pedra

Main house of the farm

Satisfaction with working with the land was transmitted to the new generations, who currently divide the activities of the farm with José Clênio Pereira, looking after the dairy cattle and other livestock, organic management, among other activities. The work system in the property involves the work of 20 families, some under the partnership system. The farm have 11 salaried workers, to whom the producer offers, in addition to the benefits guaranteed by law, plowed land for them to plant subsistence food, such as rice, beans and corn, at no cost to them.

Coffee processing system:
The very uneven topography does not allow the mechanization of any plantation activity, therefore, all the harvest is done manually. This guarantees work to a high number of families, who live in the property. The harvested coffee is immediately taken to the processing place. After receiving the coffee at the washing tank, the coffee is washed and immediately after pulped. From this phase on, the beans are separated: cherry coffee and green coffee. After the coffee is separated, it is spread on a cemented terrace, which is maintained impeccably clean.

The coffee is only revolved on the following day, in the afternoon. Subsequently in the drying phase, every day the grains are well rotated and revolved. After reaching 11.5% humidity the coffee is kept in wooden bins to rest, which are priorly inspected in order that there are no beans from previous lots. After 30 dais resting, the coffee is machine cleaned, and subsequently bagged and placed on wooden elevated floors, in a dry place.

Dry coffee huller

Cherry pulper and drying terrace

Drying and processing area

Quality concerns:
José Clênio Pereira was always interested in and concerned with producing quality coffees, thus he always attended meetings and symposia and visited properties that disclosed technologies to improve quality.

About the Brazil Cup of Excellence Competition and Auction, the producer commented: "At difficult times for coffee producers, this award came in a very important moment, bring hope for those that were beginning to be discouraged with the activity. I am excited with the promising future of the specialty coffees. Initiatives such as this one show that there are intelligent persons with the ability to change the fate of an activity, opening new perspectives."