Farm life-A journey through origin

Coffee is a ritual, sometimes passed on through generations. It is the center piece on a Sunday after a family lunch, it is the link that connects you to catching up with your best friend. There is no other beverage on earth that connects us more than coffee, but too often we forget where and who it comes from. Our ritual wouldn't be possible without the hands who pick it and the families who fully commit their lives to producing coffee.

Coffee begins with seed, planted in an idyllic zone, known as the coffee belt. The coffee belt sits 23° of the equator and the climate is ideal for growing coffee, it is the sub-tropics. After the seed is planted, the producer then has to nurture the soil. In specialty coffee the farmer will often integrate trees, shrubs, and other plants into farming systems to benefit the primary crop (coffee), in a term called ‘agroforestry’.  From there, the coffee cherries will not be ready for harvest for two and a half years after planting, and in that time there are many variables outside of the farmers control, the biggest being climate patterns. For example what about if frost rolled in a destroyed 15-20% of a farmers crop? Well that has happened, and I've witnessed the devastation within the specialty coffee world, where two and half years (sometimes 7+years, depending on the age of the trees) of commitment can be destroyed in one storm.

So, if the producer has had good fortunes from mother nature, we finally get to the first harvest of the young trees, once completed, the farmer then needs to wait another two seasons for that same tree to have a high yielding season as coffee grows in ebbs and flows. One year it’ll have a high yielding season, the next low and this all has to do with the energy it takes to mature the tree. 

Now, you are probably wondering why I got into so much detail, right? I think it is incredibly important for the everyday consumer to know and understand just how much sacrifice and commitment it takes to sustain a coffee farm. Specialty coffee is a choice, it is a lifestyle the farmer chooses, it is a way of life embedded into their foundations, and it is my duty to bridge the connection between farmer and consumer. There are always challenges when dealing with an organic product, mind you, the coffee hasn't even been processed for shipping yet, so it has already been on a two and half year journey before it even resembles the coffee that we know.

At Grada, we work with Fazenda Pinhal, located in the south of Minas Gerais, Brazil. I’ve been fortunate enough to work with a few selected producers throughout Brazil for 7+ years, but coffee will always come down to relationships. In 2018 I met Pedro Gabarra from Fazenda Pinhal and we had an instant spark, we connected with our business ethos, but we also connected just as humans, and for me coffee has always been about that one word, connection. Pedro has been a great business partner, a friend, but he has also been my teacher. This is why we choose to work with Pedro and his family. Pedro and his coffee has become famous across the UK, Europe, Asia and Australia and we are incredibly proud to offer and present his coffee in a completely different product.

In 2019 Pedro and his family farm were awarded the most sustainable farm in Brazil, an award that a farm can only win once, with a lifetime impact. He is a 6th generation coffee farmer and he and his sister Mariana manage the day to day practices on the farm. Two of their most fundamental rules of coffee are relationships and transparency. 

Fazenda Pinhal was recognized as Brazil's most sustainable farm in 2019, due to its comprehensive sustainability initiatives including solar energy, waste management, and water conservation. The farm goes beyond legal requirements by preserving over 40% of its land for natural reserves and wildlife, the legal requirement in Brazil is 20%. They’ve implemented advanced farming techniques that reduce pesticide and fertilizer use, and running the Wings Project to rehabilitate and release native animals back into their natural habitats. They were also the first coffee farm in Brazil to achieve a carbon negative (yes that's right, negative) certification. That means they offset more carbon emissions than they emit. 

I spent a significant amount of time living and working with Pedro and his sister. I worked there during harvest season and it was the most valuable experience of my career. Every time I entered the farm, I was almost swept with this overwhelming energy and respect for nature. It was a sanctuary, I knew I was entering somewhere sacred and special. This experience and knowledge I now pass proudly down through to Grada.

These are the foundations of Grada, it is built on quality, transparency and connection.