Farm info

The story of Sitio São José coffee farm goes back three generations. In the mid 1940s, Manoel Gonçalves Mendonça’s grandfather began to produce coffee and other crops through his own labor in a small area along the banks of the Sapucaí River near the city of Santa Rita do Sapucaí.

Over the years he formed a family and his children helped him in his work. With much effort he acquired other properties and new areas to cultivate. In the 1980s, Manoel’s father Manoel Raimundo Mendonça assumed part of the property and brought coffee production into a new phase. Many years of dedication followed as coffee saw both high and low periods.

16 years ago, Manoel Gonçalves de Mendonça Neto, who was already working in the area, decided to dedicate himself to farming on his father’s lands and to make the farming more productive and of better quality; after all the market already demanded something different. Today, aiming for specialty coffee, he dedicates himself to the excellence of his production.

São José farm is located on 53 hectares in Santa Rita do Sapucaí with 3 hectares dedicated to specialty coffee production between 900 and 1000 meters above sea level. Coffee flowers in September and October for the harvest in June and July.

Fazenda São José 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.