Brazil is the world’s largest producer of coffee and one of the main investors in technologies and improvements for the sector. Over the last 60 years, the country has reduced the area allocated to coffee by 52%, but increased its productivity by 451%, preserving the environment and generating income for producers and millions of jobs.
The country has also stood out in the production of specialty coffees. In November 2021, 29 samples from seven producing origins in the country won the Cup of Excellence – Brazil 2021 international stage. This is one of the world’s main quality competition for the product and is held by the Brazilian Association of Specialty Coffees (BSCA), in partnership with the Brazilian Export and Investment Promotion Agency (APEX-Brasil) and the Alliance for Coffee Excellence (ACE).
“In a harvest that took place amidst the challenges brought by the Covid-19 pandemic and climatic adversities, the Brazilian coffee industry has shown itself to be resilient and, once again, presented us with spectacular coffees,” said Vanusia Nogueira, director of BSCA, during the ceremony that announced the winners.
The 29 selected contestants won the right to participate in an internet auction on December 20th. In this trading session, main buyers from around the world will compete for the best Brazilian coffees from the 2021 harvest with an opening price of US$ 5.50 per pound.
“Coffee from Brazil to the World”
After more than 90 meetings between 30 rural entrepreneurs and 20 international buyers, the Brazilian Confederation of Agriculture and Livestock (CNA), ended this month the virtual business roundtable for the Agro.BR project focused on the coffee sector. The initiative seeks to bring small and medium specialty coffee producers closer to buyers from countries in South America, Europe, and the Middle East, in addition to the United States and Canada.
The rural entrepreneurs who participated in the business roundtables were selected from the “Coffee from Brazil to the World” award, held by CNA, APEX-Brasil, and Sistema FAEMG/SENAR, which evaluated 25 samples from all over the country and revealed the best products within the Agro.BR project.
“Brazilian coffee is internationally acknowledged. We are the largest producers and exporters of coffee beans, but we understand that there are opportunities to conquer new markets and consolidate our participation in others,” said CNA’s International Relations advisor, Rafael Gratão.
Simone Sampaio’s coffee, from Araponga (MG), stood out in the awards and guaranteed her participation in the business roundtables. “To produce specialty coffee, you have to have a lot of dedication, study, and willpower, because it’s not like commodity coffee. We need to know where we are going to plant it, if the terroir is good, and if the location of the crop is good,” she said.
Juliana Mello, another producer who participated in the roundtables, argues that to produce coffee, it is necessary to have a complete vision from the farm to the cup. “Our coffee varies from sweet notes (caramel, chocolate, milk chocolate, chestnut, and hazelnut) and citrus notes.” Quality and flavor notes are factors that attract international buyers, like Harm Jansen, from the Netherlands, who also took part in the business meetings.“Our ambition is to positively impact different coffee communities. And our interest in negotiating with Brazil is because it is the largest coffee producer in the world with a variety of profiles and flavors, as they offer coffee from different regions and each one has a specific bean. The interest in the Brazilian product is precisely these nuances of flavors it offers.”