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The history of the California Farm is very familiar with the history of coffee from Parana. The region of the Pioneer North Parana was the portal of entry of the coffee in the State and the Town of Jacarezinho was among the first to be colonized in the late nineteenth early twentieth century. The arrival of explorers from Sao Paulo and Minas Gerais, by the fertility and topography of the land was the starting point of the cycle of the coffee in Parana. Inserted at this historical moment, the lands of the region of Jacarezinho were being occupied by the formation of the coffee plantations, pig breeding and development of subsistence crops (rice, maize and beans) in partnership regime. Since that time, the characteristics of topography, soils of volcanic origin, high fertility, water regime with good distribution of rainfall throughout the year and temperature range characterized by the binomial 23º South latitude and 600 meters, emphasized the vocation of region for coffee. In 1920, an American company called Leon & Israel, acquired the land until now called California Farm. It is worth emphasizing the fact that the company in question went on to become a major exporter of coffee in Parana, taking that time, brokerage offices in London and Santos – Sao Paulo. The professional management adopted by the U.S. administration has created a worldwide reputation among property buyers of coffee between the 40 and 80. A movie, called “Pao de Acucar”, was made in the meantime in the farm, with the presence of an north American cast, the importance of such property. Since that time, are kept all the accounting and labor records, the original documents of the Farm (all stamped by the University of California), maps of coffee fields, maps and pedological capacity of land use and other objects that show the courage and professionalism of American investors. In 2004 the farm was acquired by the family Saldanha Rodrigues, and under the view of its president, the manager Dr. Paulo Cesar Rodrigues Saldanha, that It’s always possible do it better, a new round of coffee was started on the Farm. A tragic plane crash on 2004, came to stop Dr. Paulo of seeing his dream come true, but his project of specialty coffee in the property, was carried on by his nephew, the agronomist Luiz Roberto S. Rodrigues. The farm had 100% of its coffee production area renewed, as its structures and production process, harvesting, processing, drying and storage were upgraded and a system of sustainable management, having been the single property of Parana having the UTZ certification by 2007. More than changes in it’s structure, procedures and processes, the greatest change occurred in the California Farm, was behavioral. The position adopted by new owners since 2004 was the foundation of successful partnerships with the Union of Employers from Jacarezinho and the system of FAEP / SENAR, this way, the creation of an annual training schedule for all sectors and functions of the Farm, reached 2010 giving approximately 3000 certificates of qualification. Through the partnership with the Jacarezinho City Hall, was made possible having literacy evening classes to the employees, who could return to school without being out of the Farm. Furthermore, the investment in extra school classes to the children of employees, with a personalized attention to the problems of the students, brought great results since 2007, with the elimination of school failure, a factor of pride and motivation to employees. Children also learn the basics of civility and environmental education and assist the certification process by serving as junior staff of promoting sustainability in the property as a whole. Today, with the mission of Producing quality food to consumers, society and the environment, the California Farm joins a glorious past to a future of sustainability.

Coffee processing system

1. Crop Management and Driving The philosophy of the state of the art technology for the production of coffee, adopted by the California Farm, includes the constant search for knowledge and techniques to increase quality and productivity to the production system. Thus, the Farm, follows interdisciplinary and integrated programs for driving a modern coffee farming, sustainable and responsible, always based on studies of research institutions linked to the national coffee (IAPAR, IAC, ESALQ / USP, and UFLA UFV). The adoption of integrated pest and diseases’management , integration of organic and mineral fertilizer, use of DRIS (diagnosis and recommendation integrated system) for monitoring the program of plant mineral nutrition, chemical management of weeds, are some of the tools used for starting the process of searching for coffee quality. The production of the finalist coffee lot for 2010 Cup of Excellence Competition began in 2008, with the introduction of new production areas of Yellow Catuai, IAC in 62 pre-selected locations for the production of high quality coffee in the property. 2. Harvest In California Farm, the coffee harvest is seen as part of the ongoing process of searching for a product of quality, initiated the formation of the fruit crop, and ended only after the consumption of coffee ready to be tasted. Soon, a series of procedures is adopted for this objective to be achieved: • specific training of officials for the operation of collection, made by qualified technicians (all property staff receive training and operational training for collection of specific good hygiene practices before the start of the coffee crop every year); • beginning of the harvest with the least amount of green fruit as possible, ranging between 5 and 15%, is always seeking the highest percentage of fruit cherries; • detachment of coffee to be harvested on a polypropylene cloth, avoiding contact of fruits with the soil; • transportation, reception and processing of instant coffee harvested crop avoiding chemical and biological reactions disparaging the quality of the product; • use of selective harvesting with two or three rounds, manual or mechanized in 100% of the property. In case of the lot registered on the Cup of Excellence, the same one and which came from the second selective manual round harvest, on the plot 3, of Yellow Catuai IAC 62. 3. Processing and Drying After receiving the harvested coffee from the plantations, the fruits go immediately to the process of washing and separation, in order to remove any dirty stuff (leaves, twigs etc), and separate the different stages of maturation (cherries, raisins, buoy and green). In case of the pulped natural coffee, they have the pre-drying in an oven of 900 m2 properly constructed to eliminate the risks caused by adverse weather conditions the drying that can affect the quality of the product. The handling of pre-drying and drying of coffee is made by a specialized team, trained by technicians working in the area. Then, each type of coffee (pulped natural, semi washed, buoy and green), presents a different management because of its chemical peculiarities, physical and biological weapons, able to determine the organoleptic attributes that belong to each one. After pre-drying the product in the terrace, the coffees of the California Farm have completed their process of drying at 11% moisture, produced and helped by two rotary dryers with a capacity of 15,000 liters of each. Like this, it avoids the product to remaining exposed to bad weather, ensuring the quality of the drink. 4. Storage The California Farm has a structure built of 16 bins at the beginning of last century, made of hardwood (mainly Peroba), made for a very cautious process of storage of the dried coffee (11% moisture) ready to be enjoyed. In the wooden bins, the coffee finds ideal conditions of temperature, humidity and light so it can be stored before the benefit. In the centenary of the California Farm bins in our coconut coffee rest for at least 30 days so that a complete settlement of the moisture content of the grains before they can be benefited. 5. Improvement and Standardization The California Farm has in its structure and complete system of modern coffee processing and standardization installed at the beginning of 2010. Thus, all the coffee produced on the property closes its production cycle within the unit which ensures high reliability of the tracking system itself. The lot registered on the Cup of Excellence Competition was standardized by separating the screens 17/18 and passed by a bichromatic sorter machine to fit in standard NY 2/3.

Commitment to quality

The California Farm is part of the Specialty coffee project of the north pioneer of Parana, it was an initiative of the producers of the region in partnership with SEBRAE. So the property as a reference figure 102 members of ACENPP (Specialty Coffee Association of the North Pioneer of Parana) which its owner is Mr. Luiz Roberto S. Robinson is a director and member. Soon, the new history of the California Farm has been confused with the story of specialty coffee in the North Pioneer of Parana, which appears as a new source of specialty coffee in the country being represented for the first time in the final of the Cup of Excellence. Farm bill, still under the supervision of two full-time Agricultural Engineers, Mr. Luiz Roberto S. Roberts and Mrs. Roberts Flavia Saldanha, married, the property owners and residents. Both have the technical responsibility and accountability for the quality control of the entire production process, which has the UTZ certification to demonstrate the professionalism of the management system of the property.
Awards Won • 2nd place, quality competition, Parana Extension Services (EMATER–PR), 2009• 1st place, sustainability competition, Parana Extension Services (EMATER–PR), 2009• 1st place, quality competition, Parana Extension Services (EMATER–PR), 2010• Finalist, quality competition, ABIC, 2010• 6th place, Arabica Naturals International Contest – Yemen, 2010