Brazil - Furnas (2020)

Rinaldo de Castro Junqueira is a third-generation producer, albeit an initially reluctant one. His great-grandfather worked as a laborer on a coffee plantation and his son, Rinaldo's grandfather, became the first person in the family to own property by purchasing a farm. This property was split among his children upon his passing, and Rinaldo's father received his lot in the municipality of Jesuânia, neighboring Carmo de Minas.

Rinaldo struck out on his own, becoming an engineer. By 1990, with his father in ailing health, he returned home. The Jesuânia property was at that time producing commodity coffee. As Rinaldo spent more time running the operation, he began to fall in love with it. Over time, his reputation among his neighbors grew and he was elected president of the local cooperative association of producers, COCARIVE.

In 2003, Rinaldo and his father, in a continual effort to raise their quality to specialty, sold the Jesuânia plot and purchased the 280 hectare, 100 year old coffee farm Fazenda Furnas. Rinaldo has been producing top-quality lots there ever since, working with our partners at CarmoCoffees. He says: "If we want to work in coffee business with focus in being as sustainable and profitable as possible, we must have in mind that a good planning is mandatory. Building a reputation depends in achieving good results in competitions, cupping sessions and in establishing long-term relationships with clients based always on trust and honesty as well."