For over a century Fazenda Recanto has been producing high-quality coffees in Brazil’s Sul de Minas region, with each generation facing a unique set of challenges in an ever-changing industry and world. We sat down with Paula Magalhães Paiva to talk about the challenges she is facing, and how Recanto is preparing for the future.

Our theme this month is tradition, featuring our Cafezinho blend, the Sul de Minas region, and Fazenda Recanto. I would like to start the interview there. Can you tell us a little bit about the history of Fazenda Recanto?

Fazenda Recanto has belonged to the Magalhães family since 1896. We consider this the date of the initial product because we have the tax records of coffee sales starting this year. But the history probably dates back further. The property has been passed down through generations and today belongs to Maria Selma Magalhães, who is the fourth generation managing the farm. We have always focused on producing high-quality coffee, and in 1932 we won a world award for quality. Currently, the farm is 439 total hectares, of which 180 hectares are under coffee production and another 180 are areas that are legal and permanent natural preserves. The farm is in one of Brazil’s most traditional coffee-producing regions, the Sul de Minas region.

Your parents are the fourth generation of coffee growers at Recanto. What were some of the challenges that your parents faced when taking over the farm in the 1980s?

The main challenges they faced were introducing modernity and technology to the farm. Some of the main changes were the natural regeneration of pasture areas that were totally degraded, renovation of crops, with more adequate spacing for mechanization, implementation of new cultivars, and construction of infrastructure for producing specialty coffees.

You have come back to the farm and taken a very active role in the last decade. Can you tell us a little bit about your personal journey, your decision to come back to the farm, and some of the various hats you wear?

I am the family's fifth generation on the farm. I was born here and have been around coffee since I was a child. I moved away to study abroad, but after ten years I returned to the farm, in 2015. I recently graduated in Foreign Trade, and my main goal was to add value to our product and start exporting directly. I realized that for all this to happen it was necessary that I understood quality. So, I started to prepare myself in several ways, and that's why I became a Q Grader in 2017, and I have been a national judge twice for the main quality contest, the Cup of Excellence. In addition, I understood that coffee is constantly evolving, and therefore it is important to always study and keep up with the changes. Because of that I also became a certified processing expert by the Coffee Quality Institute (CQI). The intention is to bring know-how to the farm and implement different processes, to understand how our post-harvest actions impact the final taste in the cup, and to increase our portfolio of coffees for a wide variety of clients. Currently, I oversee quality control for our coffees, internal and export sales, and as well as our roasted coffee line.

*Paula taking drying temperatures on the raised bed, along with several of the different processing methods she uses to create a portfolio of flavor profiles.*

How has the coffee industry changed, and what challenges are you facing now, in 2023?

I believe that over the years the producer has gained more control over production and, with technology, has had more access to clients and to information. The roasters started wanting to have direct contact with producers and to know how the coffees they buy are produced. This relationship between roaster and producer had a direct impact on some decisions on the farm. Their proximity allowed the producer to produce coffee on demand for roaster clients. Many experiments and new trends emerged from this.

How about on an industry level? How has specialty coffee grown in Brazil? How has this impacted green sales?

The specialty coffee market has grown a lot in the last few years. I don't know exact numbers in general, but for us here at the farm the sales of green coffee to specialty coffee roasters in Brazil increased by 50 percent in the last five years. Many coffee shops and roasters have sprung up in several regions of the country, including in the North and Northeast, which are warmer regions and where many did not believe it was possible. The final consumer also became increasingly interested in knowing more about the coffees they were buying, and direct communication between this type of consumer and the producer began to develop.

Recanto has recently (well, recently in terms of the history of the farm) started a line of roasted coffees. Can you tell us about that development?

We first started roasting our coffees when I returned to the farm in 2015, the intention was always to try to add more value to our product, to learn more about it through roasting and how it was received by consumers. In addition, the roasted coffee for us serves as a showcase; it is a way to position our brand and to offer our customers in our country, and especially in our region, coffee roasted in our way. Recently, we also exported roasted coffees to Belgium. Although we know that there are several challenges in this business model, we decided to face it and accept the request from a partner in that country.

Fazenda Recanto has launched their own roasted coffee line to much success in Brazil.

Within the last 5 years we have seen an immense diversity in the cultivars here in Brazil. What has Recanto planted and what results have you seen on your farm?

We have planted Gesha, Pacamara, Maragogipe, SL-34, SL-28, and Marsellesa on an experimental basis here on the farm. We have not yet defined which ones we will plant on a large scale; they are all still undergoing trials. There is no doubt that in terms of quality they all have a solid track record elsewhere, but we still cannot say how they will adapt to our terroir and climate in terms of productivity and resistance to pests and diseases. Among the varieties developed in Brazil, we are testing Arara, which has shown great results in the cup and also in productivity.

We are nearing the beginning of the 2023 harvest. How has this year been, and what are some expectations for the upcoming harvest?

We are very anxious and excited about the 2023 harvest. Without a doubt, our worst harvest in the last 35 years was the 22/23 harvest, with a drop of more than 50% from our production estimates. Fortunately, this year we are very optimistic about production and quality.

Family Tradition: An Interview with Fazenda Recanto's Paula Magalhães Paiva