Interview with Paula Magalhães Paiva, Fazenda Recanto
Fazenda Recanto is located in Machado in the Sul de Minas region. The first records of activity on the farm date back to 1896. A lot has changed since then, but the passion and dedication for coffee have not. We chatted with Paula Magalhães, whose family has been producing coffee at the farm for five generations.
Paula, today you are the fifth generation to produce coffee at Recanto. How do you see Fazenda Recanto over the next generations?
Thinking about the future is always challenging, but I see that coffee production in the future will depend on a lot of efficiency, technology, and quality. I want the next generations to keep our philosophy of work here, which is to combine tradition and modernity, focusing on producing quality coffees, but always with social and environmental responsibility.
What makes Fazenda Recanto different from other Brazilian coffee producers, and what potential do you see in producing specialty coffee for the foreign market?
The difference: producing specialty coffees using technology, knowledge, and information. We control the quality of all the lots produced on the farm and this allows us to understand what we have available to offer our customers in the foreign market. We also seek to understand our clients' demands abroad, and the sensorial profile that each one seeks. This influences our decision making when defining post-harvest processing. It is also important to say that over 40% of the farm is set aside as a natural reserve. We have a very specific microclimate on the farm and our ecosystem is in balance, all of which contributes to the control of some pests and consequently to the reduction of the use of pesticides. The potential: crop renewal, betting on varieties with quality that are also more resistant [to pests and diseases], increasing our mechanized harvesting area. And continuing to combine efficiency and technology with quality.
You produce coffee in a vast country and your production could be marketed and sold only in the domestic market. However, part of your production is exported. What is the importance, apart from the financial side, of having your coffees known to the outside world?
Coffee for me about relationships. In my view, I believe that it is very important to reach different types of clients, who have different demands, tastes, and predilections. Clients from abroad bring us cultural aspects that we don't have here. This exchange is fundamental for our growth. It motivates us to leave our comfort zone and innovate. Since Brazil is such a huge country, we also sense these different cultural aspects here as we work with customers from different regions of Brazil.
What would you say to those who are buying your coffee today through Casa Brasil Coffees?
I would say that they are taking home a coffee that was produced with great dedication and responsibility. We are passionate about coffee and we take great care in every detail of production while respecting the people (employees, suppliers, customers) who help us on this journey and the environment in which we operate.