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| Winning farm of the Brazil Cup of Excellence Competition and Auction - 2001 edition |
| Daterra Atividades Rurais Ltda Fazenda Boa Vista |
| Characteristics of the coffee lot: |
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area of 22 hectares of the Icatu variety. |
| Characteristics of the farm: |
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in the Cerrado Region - State of Minas Gerais. The planted varieties are Bourbon, Icatu, Mundo Novo, Catuaí and Acaia. |
| The production areas of Daterra are located in a privileged region of the Cerrado Mineiro, which is well known as one of the most successful areas for specialty coffee plantations. The plantation areas are located at an altitude above 1,100 meters, where the red argillaceous latosol prevails, average temperature of 19oC, and well defined rain periods, with rainfalls of 1,800mm a year. The dry season during the harvest propitiates a very favorable climate to the production of arabica coffees.
In its search for the best seeds, Daterra redeemed the best and most original varieties, among which the Coffea arabica L., of the Typica variety. Other species, obtained through the crossing of different varieties, such as Red Bourbon and Sumatra, are also grown based on the concept of a perfect coffee balance with special flavor and taste, obtained from the best selection of the Coffea arabica varieties. Therefore, a large nursery is maintained in the farm, producing not only the nursery trees used to maintain the plantation, but also sustaining the production of species that are being researched to study different performance of certain genetic species. The planted varieties are Bourbon, Icatu, Mundo Novo, Catuaí and Acaia. |
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Social concerns: Since Daterra began its operations in 1987, priority was given to aspects such as education, support to the community and rural worker value. As a result of this philosophy, the company offers benefits such as health care, housing, profit sharing, bonus for time worked and free of charge day care center for the children of its employees. Continuously, the company has been fostering effective actions to improve the welfare and respect for its rural workers. Daterra has an annual average of 800 employees. During harvesting, this number increases to 1,300. The company also maintains several programs jointly with the community, schools and university, to expand environmental preservation awareness, respect to rural workers philosophy, and productive coffee activities. |
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Environmental preservation: With a total area of approximately 6,800 hectares, Daterra maintains about 4,000 hectares in ecological reserves. With activities developed for environmental preservation - which became a world reference in gourmet coffee production - Daterra conquered the ISO 14001 certificate, praising the excellence in quality, tradition and reliability. The company maintains innovative projects that minimize environmental impacts generated by its productive activity. One of them is the "Programa de Adequação Ambiental" (Environmental Adaptation Program) - PAA, conceived and implemented in a partnership with College of Agriculture Luiz de Queiroz - ESALQ/USP. With PAA, the typical vegetation types of the region and which are natural of Daterra were characterized, allowing the planning of natural regeneration to restore native formation, to encourage fire prevention and fire fighting in the natural areas, and planting high diversity native species. Around the trails marked for environmental education activities, one will find the typical Cerrado vegetation. With animal names seen in each one of them, they are separated into the following categories: Species Trail, Landscape Trail and Natural Formation Trail. |
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Coffee processing system: Daterra production areas are subdivided into homogeneous units called Planting Fields. The coffees of each planting field, after they are harvest, receive an individual identification which follows it until the end of the preparation process. This separation allows tracing the lots and preserving their original quality. Subsequently, the process of separating the beans is made by the wet method where, after removing the husk, the coffee is transported to a concrete terrace and distributed in fine layers turned for a period that is sufficient to dry under the sun. Immediately after, the coffee is taken to the dryers where they receive air at 30oC and are warmed by a hot water radiator system. The drying process is carefully performed to obtain a uniform product. After the going through the dryers, the beans rest in wooden bins for at least 40 days, to stress their natural attributes. Finally, the coffee undergoes a careful process to eliminate imperfect beans. The selection electronic equipment is monitored by software that follow Daterra's specific quality standards. |
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Quality concerns: Throughout the years, Daterra has been developing a continuous improvement program in the processes that determine coffee quality. The purpose of this work is to allow the practice in producing the results reached in researches. Thus, the company developed partnerships with several research and technology Brazilian institutions to constantly improve the quality of the coffees it produces. Daterra's partners include institutions such as Ital, Unicamp, Esalq, Ufla, IAC. Following the same philosophy, Daterra's specialists and managers are frequently visiting international quality entities, since they believe that the exchange of experiences is fundamental for the excellence of their processes and the continuous search for high standards of coffee quality. |
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For further information and photos, please visit Daterra's web site: http://www.daterracoffee.com.br/ |