Brazil Campo das Vertentes Fazenda Cruzeiro

This coffee comes to us from producer Ivan Junqueira Ribeiro, owner of Fazenda Cruzeiro, a farm in Brazil's Campo das Vertentes region. The farm, established in 1923, spans a total of 1,021 hectares of which 381 are planted in Red Catuai, Yellow Bourbon, Mundo Novo, Topázio, Arara, and Rubi. Cherries here are picked ripe using both mechanical and manual harvesting techniques.  After harvesting, cherries are moved to a cement patio for drying.

The Campo das Vertentes region is comprised of the municipalities: Bom Sucesso, Camacho, Campo Belo, Cana Verde, Candeias, Carmo da Mata, Conceição da Barra de Minas, Ibituruna, Nazareno, Oliveira, Perdões, Ritápolis, Santana do Jacaré, Santo Antônio do Amparo, São Francisco de Paula, and São João del-Rei and São Tiago.

Campo das Vertentes is located in the heart of Minas Gerais state, approximately 200km south of the capital city of Belo Horizonte. The region earned its name, meaning literally “watershed fields,” due to its location between two important water basins in Brazil. Because of the fertile soils and the abundance of water, agriculture arrived early in the region following the first settlers who came in search of precious metals. The arabica coffee plant adapted perfectly to this area and production can be traced back to 1860.
More recently, the rich coffee tradition of Campo das Vertentes, as well as the unique landscape and microclimate of the region, are being recognized by a geographical indication.

Minas Gerais may be nowadays the largest coffee producing area in Brazil, but it all started in the seventeenth century because of the discovery of the gold and diamond mines. This motivated the arrival of the first pioneers and settlers, which in turn created demand for food products. Agricultural areas started to develop around the mining villages to supply those staple items.

Due to the mountainous terrain and precarious roads at that time, most of the transport was undertaken by convoys of horses and mules led by men known as “tropeiros”. The difficulty of access in the early days helped to shape a unique culture and is still very present in the identity of Mineiros (inhabitants of Minas Gerais) and the traditions of this Brazilian State. Those ancient trails created by the “tropeiros” connecting the mining areas up to the coast still exist to this day and are part of a tourist route called “Estrada Real”, very popular with Brazilians.

Thus, coffee probably reached the Campo das Vertentes region by the means of the tropeiro convoys in the eighteenth century, but was firstly planted for home consumption. Since the coffee plant adapted really well to the local terroir, production increased fast and flourished by the end of the nineteenth and beginning of the twentieth century, also propelled by a growing international demand for the beans.

The rich history of coffee production and the singular identity of Campo das Vertentes is now preserved under a geographical indication recognized by the Brazilian government comprising 17 municipalities.