Brazil Fazenda Rainha

Fazenda Rainha belongs to the Carvalho Dias' family since 1890. Gabriel de Carvalho Dias, nephew of the owner is responsible for managing the farm, which is located exactly on the boarder with the State of Minas Gerais, and has the characteristics of the mountainous regions of Mogiana and South Minas. Plantations are handled manually, because the local topography does not allow any type of mechanization.

Social and environmental aspects are considered fundamental by the farm's management. The farm has a program to plant native species to maintain the ecological balance. Of the 484 hectars, only 190 are used for coffee plantation. Furthermore, the employees live in houses with complete infrastructure; there is a school for their children and a leisure area for the families with a club and an official soccer field. The water used in the farm is treated to avoid polluting its water sources.

The farm is at an altitude between 1100 and 1500 meters with average annual rainfalls between 1800 and 2000 mm, and an average temperature of 19°C - ideal conditions for coffee growing. Fazenda Rainha produces coffees of the Yellow Bourbon variety, famous for its exceptional quality.

Coffee processing system and quality The processing system is pulped natural/ semi-washed: Coffee is picked manually on cloth, to avoid that the beans touch the soil. As soon as possible the beans are transferred to the processing area, always on the same day they are picked, to avoid any fermentation risks. After the coffee is picked and arrives at the processing area it is immediately washed. Then the cherries are separated according to size and density and dry cherries separated from the rest. Only the ripe cherries are pulped, separating them from the green beans during this stage. The pulped beans are dried on a terrace until the coffee reaches 20% humidity. At this stage the beans are transferred to the driers for their humidity level to be reduced to 11%. Subsequently, the coffee is transported to the warehouse which maintains low humidity levels and is free of odours that may affect coffee.

The quality of the coffees produced at Fazenda Rainha is the result of the great dedication and care exerted from planting the nursery trees to harvesting and then processing the beans. The work performed by Regina Helena Mello de Carvalho Dias and her family to produce distinct quality cups led the coffees produced at her farm to be one of the finalists of the Cup of Excellence Contests - 2000, 2001 and 2005 editions.