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Overview

The farm is located in southern Minas Gerais in the Mantiqueira mountains. Its mountainous terrain has deep, fertile, high-quality soil. It has a pleasant climate characterized by rainy summers with average temperatures of 26º C and dry, cold winters with temperatures between -2º C and 19º C. The name Cambara comes from a native tree (Erisma uncinatum – ‘cambara’ in English) that grows in abundance on the property and has unusual characteristics, including silvery leaves and strong, twisted trunks. Reaching approximately 10 meters in height, cambara trees dot the entire the landscape. The farm dates back to 1929, when it was purchased by the family patriarch, Joaquim Junqueira Ferraz. Though born in Cristina in southern Minas Gerais, the enterprising young descendant of coffee growers moved at the end of the nineteenth century to the Mata de Minas area, which was the state’s epicenter of coffee cultivation. Chasing his dream, he bought a farm in the region and proceeded to produce coffee in the area considered at that time to be the most propitious for growing the crop. Shortly afterwards he married and started a family. Thanks to the economic circumstances of the time, he was soon able to buy land in southern Minas Gerais, Fazenda Cambara, where he also planted coffee while still continuing to do the same in the Mata de Minas. In the 1960s, Joaquim Junqueira Ferraz divided up his landholdings among his nine children and Fazenda Cambara was passed on to his youngest daughter, Neuza Ferraz de Castro, and her husband, Algenio Baptista de Castro, an electrical engineer from Rio de Janeiro. Algenio Baptista de Castro, son of a rural farmer, and his wife took over the farm, combining this work with their activities in Rio de Janeiro. He revived the existing cultivated fields, applying advanced soil cultivation and conservation techniques, and invested in infrastructure, increasing and improving the farm’s output. In 1975 the new landowner was killed in a car accident and management of the property fell to his widow and youngest son, Algenio Ferraz de Castro, who was only 16 years old at the time. To carry on the farm’s history – a history of passion, dedication, and family – Algenio Ferraz de Castro decided to leave Rio de Janeiro, where he was living with his mother three sisters, to devote his full time to the farm. In his 37 years of managing the farm, together with his mother, Algenio has expanded the area under cultivation, improved the coffee varieties being grown, and increased the farm’s production using the latest agricultural techniques based on guidance from public and private agencies such as the Brazilian Coffee Institute (IBC), Minas Gerais Extension Services (EMATER), and the Rio Verde Valley Coffee Growers Cooperative. The last-mentioned also became a partner in marketing the coffee product. Believing that quality of life and premier training for their staff are indispensible to attaining their objectives, managers of Fazenda Cambara have helped their personnel to acquire professional certification and advance in their careers. As a result, many of their staff now have highly developed skills and are recognized in their profession at the national level. Ten families currently live and work on the property, and in some cases more than one generation was born and grew up on the property. Providing professional and personal satisfaction, making people happy, has enabled Fazenda Cambara to stride ahead and overcome obstacles over the years. Keeping up with the latest trends, in 2002 Fazenda Cambara joined the gourmet coffee market. Believing that Cambara is in the perfect position to produce coffees of extremely high quality – given its ideal altitude, soil, and climate, as well as its fields already planted with high-output varieties – Algenio decided to invest in new technology. These investments have improved his product and enabled him to produce a truly outstanding coffee. As a participant in the specialty coffee market, he has entered his coffees in internationally recognized competitions – Brazil Specialty Coffee Association (BSCA), Illy, and Minas Gerais Extension Services (EMATER), among others – that attest to the quality of his product. As a result of this effort, new markets are opening up every year and new techniques are constantly being implemented, because Fazenda Cambara has an ongoing commitment to quality and is constantly striving to uphold its record of success.