People
Eduardo Ferreira de Sousa is the owner of Fazenda Pedra Preta in Mantiqueira de Minas and one prime example of how we build our partnership with producers. Our partnership with Eduardo dated back a few years ago when he first planned his agroforestry pilot. In the 2021 harvest season, through The Coffee Quest Brasil, we had our chance to collaborate closely with Eduardo and gained a better overview of his work. Eduardo is the real pioneer of regenerative agriculture in Brazil. He is well-known for his own scalable regenerative agriculture pilot called Tropicália – a form of land management using intercropping to create a multi-layered ecosystem
Planet
The Tropicalia system aims to create a sustainable alternative to monoculture, combatting climate change threats and reversing the effects of deforestation.
The outcome after almost 3 years has been overwhelmingly positive. Benefits of a regenerative farming system include regulated temperatures, pest and disease outbreaks avoided & improved soil quality. However, current climate events have revealed a strong indication that regenerative agriculture can be the fighting force against climate volatility. Hence, this is Eduardo’s motivation to speed up his conversion plan. In 2021, Eduardo also officially took over Pedra Preta from his father, enabling him to start adopting new changes on a greater scale. Through investing in training courses and new equipment, Eduardo is looking towards a short-term goal ahead: converting 30 hectares (30% of his farm) into agroforestry within 5 years.
About this coffee
Cupping score: 84.50
Farm: Fazenda Pedra Preta
Producer: Eduardo de Sousa
Region: Mantiqueira
Altitude: 900 – 1200 MASL
Variety: variety blend
Processing: natural
Variety
Mixed variety – Each finished lot is tasted for exact flavour profiles and blended for required taste profile. Once complete, beans are then size, density, and triple colour sorted before packing in to poly bags ready for shipping.
Natural
Natural sundried, also called “natural process” or “dry process,” means drying coffee cherries whole without the intervention of water or machines to remove any of the fruit. Prior to drying, the cherries are picked, floated in water, and sorted to remove any under-ripe or overripe fruit.
