Brazil Coffee Estate-Conservation Estate Story Fazenda Ambient Fortaleza

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When Silvia Barretto inherited the estate from the family and 150 farmers, she decided to change her traditional farming methods, instead of using fertilizers and pesticides, and using organic farming instead. She and her husband, Marcos Croce, returned to Brazil from Chicago with the idea that organic farming is good for the planet, but it was not recognized by the local community. It is even called a "crazy coffee farmer".

In 2001, Silvia officially inherited the farm and renamed it Fazenda Ambiental Fortaleza (FAF), which means "conservation farm". It stopped using chemical fertilizers and its production plummeted. Marcos also launched a more extreme social revolution, sharing 50% of the profits of coffee produced on the farm to farmers, encouraging people to produce the best quality coffee. Over the next few years, it was fraught with difficulties, but it gradually gained recognition in the American boutique coffee industry. In 2008, FAF won the Sustainable Management Award of the American Fine Coffee Association (the Specialty Coffee Association of America), and more and more bean bakers visited the manor to learn about their practices.

The next year their son Felipe also returned from the United States to work on the farm and set up a laboratory to further improve the quality and flavor of the coffee. Neighboring coffee farmers also began to work with them to send the coffee cherries to the manor's washing plant or drying bed for processing. FAF has become the engine of reform, driving the farmers around them to improve quality and promote organic farming.