Carmo Estate - Brazil

The Junquiera family began growing coffee on the highlands of southern Minas Gerais 150 years ago. The current owner, Túlio Junquiera, who is the fifth generation of coffee growers in the family, has combined tradition with innovation to make Carmo Estate a sustainable farm dedicated to the production of specialty coffees. Túlio is also a former president of the Brazil Specialty Coffee Association (BSCA), and the farm is located near the town of Heliodora, in the southern state of Minas Gerais, a stunning region with mountainous terrain and ideal conditions to grow specialty coffees. This deep coffee knowledge combined with a winning combination of environment makes for some of the most exceptional coffees around.

Coffees from Carmo Estate are grown at altitudes ranging from 950 to 1,200 metres above sea level and each tree receives the best possible treatment to ensure its health and productivity. The farm’s 220 hectares are planted out with Mondo Novo, Catuaí, Catucaí, Bourbon, Acaiá and Icatú varietals. A combination of careful management and excellent growing conditions produce an average yield of 40 bags per hectare - more than twice the national average.

The milling facilities at Carmo Estate were developed particularly for the production of high-quality specialty naturals and pulped naturals. All coffee on the Estate is selectively harvested, ensuring that only the ripest cherries are picked. The natural coffees for which Brazil has become well-known find great production conditions on Carmo Estate: well defined seasons, ideal rainfall, a long maturation period and a dry harvesting season. Carmo Estate Coffee separates its natural coffees according to moisture groups and dries them separately to bring the best quality out of each lot. Long maturation and slow drying enhance the typical cup features of Brazilian naturals. Altitude imparts the final touch.

Carmo Estate’s mission is to produce exceptional coffees while providing its employees with a good quality of life and while also ensuring environmental sustainability. Túlio and his family take great measures towards both aims.

Carmo Estate Coffees as a company that cares for the future generations has been increasing the use of re-vegetation on the property. The biologist Andre Braga Junqueira, the son of Túlio and his wife Lucimar, coordinates the project entitled "Recovery of the Ciliar[1] Vegetation at Carmo Estate Coffees," which was launched in 2003 to accelerate the natural regeneration of areas with degraded clear forests and to help unite the forest fragments on the farm. Andre has made a detailed study of the estate’s original forest, which led to the planting of five thousand seedlings of species native to the Atlantic Forest in a 2.5-hectare area by using the most recent methodologies of environmental restoration.

This pioneering project in the region has already presented positive results. It will soon be extended to other areas of the estate. With this initiative, Carmo Estate Coffees strengthens its commitment to preserving the environment for future generations by aligning the production of specialty coffees to the pursuit of economical, social and environmental sustainability.

Carmo Estate is also committed to the wellbeing of its employees and partners. Healthcare, on-site schooling for children, programmes to encourage workers to build their own housing, adult education projects and training on the importance of environmental preservation are all offered by Carmo. The farm also runs an innovative profit-sharing programme, in which employees are invited to become partners in Carmo Estate and thus become entitled to a share of the profits earned from the sale its coffees.