Farm info

The story of Sitio São Bento goes back to the first immigrants from the Werner and Heriner families who came to the Matas de Minas region of Brazil from Germany in the mid nineteenth century. They explored the Atlantic Forest to find land suited to agriculture that they could expand and leave to their descendants. They chose to establish the farm at the edge of the forest and completed construction of a large family home, Lagoa Preta, in 1912. With wide windows and doors and surrounded by flowers and birdsong coming from the forest, the home is something of an enchanting sight.

“My family’s history in this region was built by coffee,” says João, whose family were pioneers of coffee production in the region and his uncles followed different paths. The younger set went to the city to become lawyers, doctors, and engineers. The older half remained on the farm to support the family and the studies of the others. João followed the example of the group that remained on the farm; his love for the land and the memories of a home steeped in tradition had spoken louder.

Today, João Luis Carneiro Vianna is the fourth generation of his family to work in coffee, along with many other relatives who also continued the activity of coffee cultivation. The fifth generation will soon assume the management of the farms and they are primed to prioritize quality. 

 João Luis started when he was still young and accompanied his parents on all the tasks of the farm. Later, he became involved in the operations and eventually took over the farms’ management. Little by little, he expanded the properties together with his wife and children and invested in new technologies in pursuit of both productivity and quality, always with social and environmental responsibility. In his three decades of living the life of a coffee producer, his passion for his work has only grown from year to year.

Sitio São Bento is located in the city of Manhumirim, Minas Gerais and the farm has 29 of its 72 hectares planted with coffee at elevations between 650 and 960 meters above sea level. Sitio São Bento is part of the Minas Coffee Origins initiative.

Minas Coffee Origins are controlled origins that take specialty coffee to the next level. Controlled Origins are the product of the “terroir” produced in a demarcated area by the soil, climate, and topography characteristics combined with the production traditions of coffee growers.

These factors together generate coffee with inherent characteristics of the territory. To guarantee its authenticity, it must be produced following the official production process and controlled by an officially recognized association committed to help growers and the development of the coffee region. 

Watch a video interview with João Luis (in Portuguese!) and take a tour of his family home and farm.