Canasta wants to create its own coffee brand – 07/17/2023 – Market

Coffee producers from two important regions of Minas Gerais came together and created their own brands in search of giving identity to their crops with the objective of gaining market share.

Located in the southwest of the state and in Canastra —famous for its artisanal cheeses—, coffee growers from 31 cities want, with the projects, to position themselves in the market, especially in specialty coffee, which is more expensive and profitable.

In the southwest of Minas Gerais, a section of the south of the state, 86 producers from 21 municipalities are betting on their own terroir to stand out among the countless market options, by offering a coffee marked by notes of chocolate, caramel, hazelnut and fruits (yellow, red and dry).

In Canastra, 35 producers from ten municipalities have coffees in their lands with characteristics such as the aroma of milk chocolate, honey, fruits (tropical, citrus and yellow) and touches of chestnut and lemon-clove.

“We have two biomes, the transition from cerrado, with slopes and mountains, and plateau. The elevation, which we call the mountain range, has a privileged height, which favors a later maturation, with a faster sugar content in the fruit”, said Fernando Barbosa , president of the Southwest Minas Coffee Growers Association, headquartered in the Guaxupé region.

The “mountain range” has an average altitude of 1,200 m above sea level and is not present throughout the region, made up of cities such as Passos, São Sebastião do Paraíso, Arceburgo, Guaxupé, Carmo do Rio Claro, Fortaleza de Minas, Monte Santo de Minas and Muzambinho.

In total, the region that is home to Cooxupé –the largest coffee cooperative in the country– and a number of companies linked to the sector has an average annual production of 2.6 million bags of 60 kg each and 11,818 rural producers.

In Guaxupé alone there are 600 rural properties, with crops cultivated in 8,500 hectares, 72% of them with coffee. In other words, there is plenty of room for the brand to grow, conclude those involved in the project.

That’s what producer Suzana Santos Passos, from Muzambinho, expects, who cultivates an area of ​​86 hectares (the equivalent of 120 football fields) with coffee with her parents and siblings, on the São Domingos farm, at an altitude of 1,100 m.

“Good, special coffee is found everywhere in the world, but this one is different from the others. Everyone is special, but each one in its own way. It’s what we want people to know,” he said. On average, 3,000 60-kilogram bags are produced on the farm per harvest.

After the launch of the two territorial brands, they will gradually be included in the packaging of products already sold by coffee growers and the associations will continue to prepare action plans.

Both projects are developed in partnership with Sebrae, which assists associations in the process of creating the brand and improving good agricultural practices on the properties.

“Other studies will be carried out to see which other municipalities may have the same terroir and now the producers will organize themselves to seek the geographical indication, also with other partners in addition to Sebrae”, said Lucilene Pessoni, a technical analyst at Sebrae who works on the southwest project. miner.

The way to make coffee better known includes the joint action of producers in collective marks and the search to obtain in Inpi (National Institute of Industrial Property) the indication of origin or designation of origin of their products.

The indication of origin refers to the region that became known as the manufacturing center of the product, while the designation of origin designates a product whose quality is due to the environment in which it is inserted.

Other regions of Minas Gerais have already started this search in recent years, such as coffee producers in the volcanic region (surrounding Poços de Caldas), in the cerrado of Minas Gerais and in the Jequitinhonha Valley.

Acanastra (Association of Canastra Coffee Growers), formed by producers from cities such as Capitólio, Delfinópolis, São Roque de Minas and São João Batista do Glória, filed the application for registration of geographic identity in 2022, in the denomination of origin modality.

A consultant for the agency, Claudia Leite said that the main focus of the southwest project was not to create something new, but to allow the flourishing of characteristics that already exist in the region, such as the microclimate and relief.

“All this already existed. Many producers had excellent coffees and did not know it”, he stated.

Barbosa said that the planning under development is focused on activities within a ten-year period and seeks, in addition to identity, to have good governance, high quality and controlled origin.

The journalist traveled at the invitation of Sebrae