Farm: Amarantes
Grower: Télio and Tarlei Veloso
City: Carmo da Cachoeira
Region: South of Minas
Altitude: 1200
Varieties: Yellow Catuai and Mundo Novo
Planted area: 100 hectares
History
Télio and Tarlei are brothers and administrators of the Amarantes farm, in the municipality of Carmo da Cachoeira, in the south of Minas Gerais. They inherited the estate of their grandfather, Jaci Correa, who had been producing coffee since 1969. In 1993, the Veloso brothers began their work on the farm, using the same methods of brewing Jaci's coffees. But over time, they realized that if some changes were made post-harvest, they could add more value and quality to the lots. In 2003, they made new production methods and found that they had a large pottery for specialty coffees. They invested in employee training, improved the patio structure, bought a coffee dryer and a motorbike to help remove the coffee from the patio. The farm has 4 employees who work all year in the coffee plantations. The harvest is made by agricultural machinery and transported by a small tractor to the drying yards. In the harvest season that takes place between the months of May to July they have 3 more employees assisting in all the coffee processes. At Amarantes farm, the coffee is dried for 10 days in a courtyard and then taken to a rotary dryer until it reaches the correct humidity for removal of the dry bark. At the site there is a machine for cleaning dry coffee, which after the removal of the dried barks are packed in a big bag and stored on the farm. The Veloso brothers are very happy to produce special coffees and expect each day to improve the quality of its fruits.