Alexander Felisberto took over the family farm and wanted to produce specialty coffee. He was told it would be an expensive hobby, but with his best friend Luiz by his side, he went for it anyway. Together, they have both cried and rejoiced over good and bad harvests. And it is their passion for specialty coffee that motivates them.
After countless WhatsApp calls on screen, we finally meet coffee farmer Alexander face to face in Andradas. The small town is beautifully surrounded by green hills and mountains in the state of Minas Gerais. Alexander has brought his entire family along; his heavily pregnant wife and five-year-old daughter. His best friend Luiz also has to come along, of course, with his wife and daughter. In fact, the two friends are married to sisters, so they are also brothers-in-law.
"We're going to take you to the farm, but first we're going to eat at our favourite restaurant. We have very proud food traditions here in 'Minas'," says Alexander. And the food certainly doesn't disappoint! But specialty coffee is the main attraction here for us, and what has put the area on the map.
Full and satisfied, we wind our way along the mountain road in Alexander's pickup truck up to Fazenda Santa Barbara, where his grandfather started coffee production in 1958. At the top, there's a view of the valley where a lush coffee plantation and some small houses spread out in the distance, framed by dense Atlantic rainforest. It's a wild and beautiful sight!
"When you produce specialty coffee, the area is very important – both where the land is located and what it's surrounded by. The advantage we have is that we are lucky enough to be located at the foot of a volcanic mountain range, Serra do Caracol – which is also the postcard image for the city of Andradas," he explains.
It was always clear that Alexander would become a coffee farmer. His grandfather worked with milk and coffee, his father switched to only coffee, and when Alexander took over, he had started to explore the idea of specialty coffee.
-I discovered this world when I took over production. I wanted to improve efficiency and activity, and realized that my property had the potential to develop specialty coffee. I had spoken with other producers, and often heard about people who had poor harvests and that the coffee was bad to drink. But on my farm, this never happened. So far, we had never tried to improve operations, we only did the basic things, but still, the quality of the beans and the cup never declined. I suspected that we had very good growing conditions here.
In the first year, the farm joined a membership association for coffee producers in the area, and Alexander was able to get a quality sample of the coffee tested.
-To my surprise, we scored 84 points on the cupping scale without having done anything to improve (specialty coffee must score above 80 points). For example, we dried the coffee the same way as before, a simple process where we weren't particularly careful, says the farmer.
-I thought - let's see what happens if we improve our operations, maybe this will improve the coffee even more, he says
Alexander's day job was in a bank where he served clients in agriculture. He had therefore met many coffee producers over the years and had noticed that each one was very proud of their crop and many liked to participate in competitions and ensure they produced high-quality coffee.
"Since I came from a family farm, I carried that pride with me. And with specialty coffee, I could also add value. As I see it, producers are hostages to pricing, as prices for commodity coffee fluctuate. As the weakest link in the chain, we found that it was possible to add value through specialty coffee. By producing better quality coffee, the farmer can price the coffee outside the commodity market. We are not dependent on these fluctuating prices. We don't know why they go up and down; it's not something we can plan for," he points out.
"So, when we improve the quality of the coffee and sell directly through our partners and stores, we can achieve a more stable price. This makes production more viable from an economic perspective," says Alexander.
But adding value through the production of specialty coffee is not without its challenges:
-Weather and climate change are the biggest challenge. I tend to say that we have an "outdoor industry", and we have been through many climate events such as freezing rain with sleet. At times, these events have held back production, and it can be heartbreaking. We have cried, he admits.
However, something that can, to some extent, prevent this is a good and natural environment, Alexander believes.
-It gives quality to the product.
-We discovered this ourselves. We try to operate efficient agriculture with as little impact on the environment around us as possible. We have seen the benefits of this over the last 5-10 years. Among other things, we have fenced off the river with the intention that it should recover after being used and polluted. We have also regenerated the forest so that it can return to its most original state as possible. What's fantastic is that after this recovery period, we noticed the presence of many wild animal species. We were particularly surprised to see a wolf (lobo guara), which is on the red list in Brazil and on the verge of extinction, he says.
-We also have jaguars in the area, large hares and a sea of bird species that haven't been seen here for years, he says.
We are witnesses to this ourselves as we tour the farm. At the bottom of a row of coffee plants, where the thick, lush forest soon takes over, we notice a fresh footprint in the red soil. "Those are puma footprints," Alexander smiles, saying it's not the first time they've seen them. Soon after, a colorful, screeching toucan flies directly over our heads. Toucans play an important role in dispersing palm seeds in the remaining rainforest on Brazil's Atlantic coast but have disappeared in many places.
Alexander also only uses organic fertilizer from his own compost. "The coffee isn't fully organic, but we use as few pesticides as possible and instead prune as much as possible," he explains.
So far, he has converted 20 percent of his production to specialty coffee but is on his way to significantly increasing this.
"Achieving 100 percent coffee of this quality is
very difficult, but we plan to improve production as much as possible," says the coffee farmer.
"Our goal is to have the best possible operation and sell our coffee as our own brand here in Brazil and through our direct partners. We also believe it is important to offer full traceability of where and how it was produced and to have sustainable production throughout the chain."
"We also want to reach more consumers, especially in Brazil, so that Brazilians themselves can drink high-quality coffee.
Traditionally, the coffee consumed here in Brazil is a blend of impure beans. I would like people to discover the joy of drinking good, high-quality coffee that we produce and have available," he points out.
Alexander admits that he himself has a type of coffee he
is particularly fond of.
"My favorite coffee bean is yellow Catuai. I like it
best medium roasted. It's a coffee that has clear notes of chocolate and caramel - and an all-rounder that most people really enjoy. It's not a very exotic choice, but it's a very good coffee. That's why people like it."
However, he also finds it exciting to test new flavors.
"From next year, I will be testing a new type of bean – Arara. This will be exciting. It is a yellow bean variety, and we have high expectations for it," concludes the coffee farmer.
