The Almeida family's Santa Terezinha farm is located in the southern part of the state of Minas Gerais. The high altitude, mountainous terrain has good levels of rainfall and incredibly lush fertile soils rich in organic matter combine to make perfect conditions for growing quality coffee.

The land has been held in the family for many years, and is lovingly tended by owner Paulo Sergio, a trained agronomist and passionate about organic farming methods. He uses manure from his livestock as compost which is applied between the coffee trees to enrich the soil and increase fertility. He has developed a natural fertiliser from organic material that is fed to the leaves and promotes fantastic growth of the tree root systems.

Paulo is committed to improving coffee quality, and has invested in a number of ingenious techniques to improve the final cup flavours. One such area is the drying process, where, after washing and pulping, the Arabica beans are laid out on a suspended terrace, carefully covered in white sheeting. By doing so, the harmful rays of the sun are reflected off and do not directly damage the beans, and the finer flavours within are protected.

Paulo's dedication to the organic ideal has not gone unnoticed - he was invited to become a member of the Brazil Organic Agriculture Association and is an associate of the Rural Development Biodynamic Institute.