Issue link: https://read.dmtmag.com/i/491368
STiR tea & coffee industry international 29 Brazil is known for its soccer, samba, joyous carnival, and breathtaking landscapes. Underpinning all this is coffee. The country produced 36% of the world's crop last year and its 200 million citizens drink an average 80 liters a year. Two centuries of profits from Brazil's "Green Gold" rush led to many techno- logical advances. During the early 19th Century a railway system, for example, was paid for by powerful coffee barons. São Paulo Railways connected the big coffee producers to Santos, the modern and most important seaport of that era. Not only did trains save time by safely transporting green coffee from remote farms to mar- ket, the railways brought fertilizer and encouraged growers to adopt best practices. By 1840, Brazil was the largest coffee exporter in the world. It remains so today. Coffee influenced all aspects of life. It financed the studies and experiments of Alberto Santos-Dumont, the father of European aviation, whose own father Hen- rique Dumont was a wealthy coffee baron. In a way coffee gave wings to mankind. "It's impossible to dissociate Brazil's economic growth from coffee production," said Brazilian Specialty Coffee Association (BSCA) executive director, Vanusia Nogueira. "History shows that coffee has enabled Brazil's strong presence in in- ternational trade and foreign exchange. The industry's profits were fundamental in financing infrastructure and the country's industrialization. Coffee was the great pre- cursor and promoter of economic development of Brazil," she said. The nation's highways accommodate millions of trucks that cross the country loaded with coffee in jute bags or in bulk. Containers and super sacks are used for export by cargo ships, explains Eliana Relvas, a food engineer who specializes in coffee. Banco do Brasil, the largest financial institution in Brazil, was created in 1808 by Portugal's King Dom João VI to manage the exorbitant amounts of money that coffee delivered to the Portuguese crown. Brazil remained a Portuguese colony until 1824. There was so much wealth that by the end of the 19th century, quantity was much more important than quality. Historical records show that the decline of sugar industry and the diminished market for gold helped the development of coffee plan- tations, eventually leading the Portuguese empire to bet on the coffee trade. Imagine Rio de Janeiro's hills covered by coffee trees. That was the case in Barra da Tijuca during the 1800s. Brazil's frontier, now the states of São Paulo and Minas Gerais, were settled for their fertile lands. Brazilians feared wild Indians and the very dense jungle and called this region the "wild lands." "The need for new lands created new cities, imported, and developed technolo- gies and established new frontiers. Coffee was the key for the city of Campinas, for A Foundation of Coffee "When betting on specialty coffees, the producer is not a hostage to the fluc- tuations of the stock market and gets the best prices for their crops. So, specialty coffee is safer for these field men," ex- plains Gabriel Monteiro, Da Terra Bra- sil's marketing and trade coordinator. "The jump in quality has been es- sential to put the Brazilian coffees in an- other place in the international market. It is, actually, helping to improve prices in the whole production chain," said Brazil- ian Specialty Coffee Association (BSCA) executive director, Vanusia Nogueira. BSCA, created in 1991, is one of several associations with an important role in developing the country's appreciation of specialty coffee. Producers across the country are seeking ways to improve their produc- tion and learn how to trade with foreign- ers. For centuries Brazil emphasized high yielding commodity coffee. The desire to improve the quality started about 30 years ago. Continued on Pg. 32 The coffee cultivars of Brazil Old warehouse at Museu do Cafe Mechanical harvesting is predominate Photo courtesy Da Terra Brasil Photo courtesy Da Terra Brasil Photo courtesy Da Terra Brasil By Kelly Stein