FAZENDA DO SERTÃO was the first farm of the group, and the reason for its name - SERTÃO GROUP. With over 100 years of coffee tradition, the farm was a pioneer in coffee growing in the municipality of Carmo de Minas. This farm is a regional reference as one of the farms with very high annual rainfall because of its geographical location and altitude. In addition to their specialty coffees, the Sertão Group raises Girolando cattle. The group is responsible for a well-known brand, the Girolando da Sertão [Sertao's Girolando cattle], symbol of the best Brazilian cattle raiser of the Girolando breed (www.gruposertao.com.br).

Thirty-four families reside on the farm, for a total of approximately 145 people, in houses made available by the farm at no cost to its employees, all with running water and electricity, where they receive a salary above the Brazilian minimum wage, milk, coffee, transportation and medicine.

On the farm there is a municipal public school, and it also participates in the government Family Health Program. There is a telephone line for the employees, a soccer field for them to practice sports and a reservoir where they can fish.

Nazareth Dias Pereira is a member of APROCAM, an association that gives priority to improving the quality of specialty coffees and marketing (www.aprocam.com.br), and he is also a member of COCARIVE (www.cocarive.com.br).

Coffee processing system

The coffee cherries are hand-picked and collected on cloth to prevent them from touching the ground; they cherries are transported twice a day to the drying area, where they are washed, pulped, and spread out on the same day. After that they are transferred to the dryer, and then to resting silos. They are then taken back to the dryer and at 10.5% moisture content they are transferred to permanent silos where they are held for 30 days. Lastly they are processed at the Cooperative (COCARIVE), where they receive their final standard classification.

The coffee is washed and pulped utilizing a system that recycles and makes rational use of the water; the residue is transferred to settling tanks and later used on the plants.

Commitment to quality

Fazenda do Sertão, of the Sertão Group, has a modern infrastructure with cutting-edge improvements in the area. Following the philosophy of continuously improving the quality of the coffees produced on the farm, frequent visits are made to various national and international sites, and experiences are exchanged with other producers seeking higher quality standards for their coffees. All coffee lots are cupped and monitored year after year. The choice to produce specialty coffees demands full attention and dedication on the part of the producer. Traceability is indispensable, not only to understand the properties of the product but also for making decisions to replace a variety or introduce new ones.

For the eighth time Fazenda do Sertão is a finalist in the Cup of Excellence competition.