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Fazenda Baixadão belongs to brothers Antônio Márcio da Silva and Sebastião Afonso da Silva, who also manage the properties Santa Isabel and Água Limpa, among others. Coming from a family with another 13 siblings, they grew up in the middle of rice production. The change to a coffee growing began around 20 years ago when the two brothers decided to set aside 1 ha of land for coffee cultivation. What had been simply an experience became a passion; nowadays coffee is the family’s main source of income.

The farm is located in the city of Cristina, in the south of Minas Gerais, a region that presents excellent characteristics, such as fertile soil, well-de ned seasons and high elevation that create the perfect environment to grow coffee.

The producers are members of APROCAM (Mantiqueira Coffee Producer Association), which holds the Mantiqueira de Minas Indication of Origin, which has the objective of guaranteeing the source and traceability of the lot. The farm is committed to sustainable coffee growing through good agricultural practices and preservation of natural resources.

The entire harvest is done by hand; the beans are picked and taken to the processing center, located on the farm itself. Drying is done on patios under sunlight and later finished in dryers that guarantee homogenous drying, preserving the quality. The coffee is stored at COCARIVE (Carmo de Minas Cooperative), which gives members support throughout all stages of production, including in the area of commercialization where there is a department entirely dedicated to these high-scoring lots. (www.cocarive.com.br)

Both effort and dedication bring satisfying results to the brothers, who together have achieved:
1st place in the Ernesto Illy Quality Award for Espresso Coffee
2nd place in the COCARIVE Coffee Quality Contest
1st place in the Mantiqueira de Minas Coffee Quality Contest
1st place in the Cup of Excellence – 2014 Naturals held by BSCA
18th place in the Cup of Excellence – 2015 Naturals held by BSCA.