Antônio Rigno de  Oliveira

São Judas Tadeu

The municipality of Piatã and the Chapada Diamantina region are synonymous with quality coffee in Brazil, having garnered numerous quality competitions such as the ABIC national competition and the Cup of Excellence. Without question, one of the driving forces behind this success have been Antônio and Terezinha Rigno. While the region’s celebrated quality coffee production owes much to its rich soils, cool climate, and altitudes reaching 1,400 meters, harnessing the potential of a great cup of coffee still requires passion, craft, knowledge, and seasoned experience.

Quality begins with crop management, and though Antônio is not organic, he uses minimal chemical adjuncts to maintain a healthy crop. He employs manual selective harvesting, and his main processing method is pulped natural. The resulting parchment coffee is rotated regularly and covered during the hottest part of the day—a practice common in East Africa but rare in Brazil—to ensure slow, even drying.

At 35 hectares, the farm is mid-size by Brazilian standards. A little over 15 hectares are planted with coffee (mostly Catuaí with some Bourbon cultivars), and much of the farm remains covered by a natural forest.

Farm: Ouro Verde
Municipality: Piatã 
State: Bahia
Region: Chapada Diamantina

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