Brazil, The Pereira Family of Fazenda Sertão, Carmo Coffees
The Pereira Family are pioneering coffee producers in Carmo de Minas with over 70 years of history that began with husband-and-wife Jose Isidro and Nazareth Pereira. Their traditions have continued on alongside purposeful innovations under the leadership of the family's second generation, brothers Francisco and Luiz Paulo, who are at the helm of CarmoCoffees — Brazil's leading purveyor of the country's finest coffees and partner to the coffee world's foremost tastemakers.
Rwanda, Emmanuel Rusatira, Baho Coffee
Emmanuel Rusatira founded Baho Coffee, intending to help to improve the livelihood of small coffee farmers by championing natural and honey processing in Rwanda. His empathy for the farmers' life struggles stems from having been born into a smallholding coffee-farming family himself. He decided that the evocative Rwandese word "baho," literally meaning "have life," best captures and conveys his company's reason for being — which is for his smallholding coffee farmer partners to have better lives.
Colombia, Nicolas Ocampo Maya, Finca La Julia
Nicolas Ocampo Maya began to plant the Java variety at Finca La Julia in 2015, focusing on the rare and exotic varieties in Colombia. He added Tabi and Geisha varieties later that same year. Nicolas has, from the start, been exploring the flavor potential of their coffees through thoughtful experiments in natural, honey, and semi-washed processing and continues to improve on their practices, from cultivation to processing, aiming to maintain an extensive repertoire of higher quality coffees.