eduardo rodrigues & israel largo, minas gerais, brazil

Eduardo and his family along with his business partner Israel work on their farm themselves.

They pick the fruit when it turns to a deep purple and with guidance from the Barretto Croce family they transport the coffee to the drying beds at Fazenda Fortaleza Ambiental.
The daily lots are separated by varietal and altitude. Eduardo’s family have been coffee farmers for generations and he inherited the land from his mother.

Eduardo has worked with Fazenda Ambiental Fortaleza for agronomy support for the last three years after he made the decision to transition to organic production. The 2010 crop is the final transition year but the first year as Direct Trade and we’re delighted to bring his delicious coffee to the UK.

Sitio Cachoeirinha is one of the collective of small farms participating in the “Bob-o-Link” project co-ordinated by Fazenda Ambiental Fortaleza (Environmental Fortress Farm) who support these smallholders located high in the mountains with agronomy training and market access.
Their coffees are picked selectively and carefully dried on terraces by the farmers with final mill preparations at Fazenda Ambiental Fortaleza.

Why Bob-o-Link?
The farms with their natural forest corridors provide overwintering homes for the migratory New World Blackbird, commonly called the Bob-o-Link bird (Dolichonynx oryzivorus) because of its distinctive call. Bob-o-Links complete one of the longest known migrations for any neotropical songbird, breeding in the grasslands of North America and wintering in South America, particularly Brazil. The Bob-o-Link has now been recorded in the British Isles so we are delighted to participate in promoting this approach so sustainable agriculture project.