Introducing Fazendas Dutra
Finding new coffees for our shop is always the most exciting part of our job. When you find a coffee that’s just simply delicious it makes our job even more exciting! We found the Fazendas Dutra when we were tasting samples from the green coffee supplier, Cup A Lot. It stood out from the others on the cupping table, due to the clear tasting notes the coffee had; it tasted like a Ferrero Rocher! This, along with two other coffees, were immediately chosen and ordered from Cup A Lot. After ordering, we were very curious about the estate itself. We put in a little research and now we want to share this estate and its story with you!
Fazendas Dutra is located in São João do Manhuaçu, Minas Gerais which is 300km inland from the east coast of Brazil. A small farm was inherited by José Dutra Sobrinho (Zeca Dutra) in the early 1950’s. Throughout his 40 years in coffee farming, Zeca expanded his operation. This expansion was influenced hugely by the 1986 coffee crisis, where a six month drought destroyed more than half of Brazil’s coffee crops. Due to the drought, Brazil and its coffee farmers were devastated. Prices for Brazilian coffee then spiked, making coffee unaffordable for the domestic market. The Brazilian government lifted the export quotas at the time, to ensure farmers could sell the crops they had. The crisis motivated Zeca to continue investing in coffee farming and to purchase more land to expand his coffee production.
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Zeca passed away in September 1999, leaving the business to his sons Walter and Ednilson who now oversee 1000 hectares of land, with 700 hectares of coffee plantation split over 5 farms and over 3 million coffee trees in total! The brothers now employ 50 full time staff with another 250 workers in the off season and up to 600 workers during the harvest period. Under the guidance of the brothers, Fazendas Dutra has gone on to produce some of the best coffees in Brazil. In 2018, the estate won First Place at the Brazilian Coffee of the Year Awards for their Naturally Processed Coffee and Second for their Pulped Natural!
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Fazendas Dutra produces numerous varietals across the hectares. Geishas, Pacamaras, Bourbon, Catuai and Catucai are just some of the varietals planted on their farms.
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The brothers are passionate about the environment. Through their passion the estate is currently one of the most sustainable in Brazil and it is a member of BSCA (Brazil Specialty Coffee Association), Rainforest Alliance, UTZ, 4C Association and Certifica Minas! There is also approximately 300 hectares of preserved native areas, where they preserve flora and fauna using coffee straw as a fertilizer. They have planted natural wind breakers to protect against strong winds, which provides an eco-friendly control against pests. They also recycle coffee waste and use it as fertilizer for the plantation. The estate produces washed, pulped natural (semi-washed) and natural coffees. The brothers carefully manage the waste water from the washed and semi washed processing to ensure they do not contaminate the local water supply.
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Walter and Ednilson are also passionate about sharing knowledge. They established an education and training program for their employees where they learn new farming techniques and other important classes such as health and safety. Fazendas Dutra also has a family health care program, where they provide healthcare to their employees and their families and also support the local school.
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We currently have the Pulped Natural Catuai Vermehlo from Fazendas Dutra in stock. With notes of Hazelnut and Dark Chocolate, it’s a winner on both filter and espresso! We’re going to have some more of their coffees in stock soon, so watch this space!
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You can follow Fazendas Dutra on Instagram (it’s the best coffee estate page we’ve seen!), Youtube or check out their website!
Grab a bag of their beautiful coffee here or in store on Grand Parade!