Brazil Estate Coffee
From the Lambari Farm, Poços de Caldas
Owned by the Rebetez Mariani family and located in the south of Minas Gerais state near the city of Poços de Caldas (Hot Springs), this farm produces coffee that is a consistent finalist in the National ‘Cup of Excellence’ competition.
Lambari is a ‘model farm’ with exemplary commitments to social and environmental programmes having its own school for 360 children which also takes pupils from other local farms. All farm workers receive salaries substantially above Brazils’ minimum wage plus weekly food baskets, free dental clinic, employment insurance and pensions.
The coffee is harvested using the ‘natural process’, where a small amount of the cherry fruit is left on the bean so the sugars are absorbed during drying. This produces an incredibly sweet, rounded cup with tones of cocoa and almonds, yielding a flavoursome wake-up call and is delicious all through the day but
particularly mid-morning with a sweet pastry.
The Coffee Farm
Lambari is noted as a "model farm" by the Brazil Specialty Coffee Association because of its exemplary commitments to social and environmental programmes. Yet the true key to its success is the Rebetez' families continued production of outstanding coffee of the highest quality. The Lambari estate coffee is a consistent finalist in the Brazil Cup of Excellence competition - a programme which recognises excellence in coffee.
To supplement this work, Raymond Rebetez, the farm's owner, has introduced a range of social initiatives for his resident workers, so they take greater pride in their work, and raise the standard of coffee still further.
To this end, the farm has its own school for 365 children which also takes children from other local farms.
The estate's permanent and temporary workers receive salaries substantially above the Brazilian minimum wage, together with weekly food-baskets, hot meals, free dental treatment, employment insurance and pension scheme - as well as many other benefits not offered in any other coffee farm we have encountered.