90.03

In 1984, the prdoucer’s grandfather, Sebastião Fernandes de Sousa, together with his eight children, purchased a farm in the city of Venda Nova do Imigrante, ES. The farm has fertile land and a climate favorable to coffee growing. In 2000, Luiz Ricardo’s father, José Luiz Pimenta de Sousa, took over production of pulped natural coffees to increase the quality and value of the coffees. Following Sebastião’s passing in 2008, the property was divided among the brothers. Luiz Ricardo’s father received the part dedicated to coffee production.

Today Luiz Ricardo and his two brothers, all youths under 30 years of age, represent the family’s third generation of coffee producers. They work in a system of familial agriculture, outsourcing labor as little as possible. They have three farms where they produce high-quality coffees.

 Escondica is a 4.12 hectares lease, divided into fields of Catuaí 81 and Catucaí 785. The harvest runs from July to September.

 To increase production, they apply new technologies and techniques, such as pruning, crop management, fertilization and processing.

As they work in a system of familial agriculture, the entire process, from planting to sale of the coffee, is divided. The producer and his mother are responsible for processing and drying. In processing, they use spontaneous fermentation in tanks of water to maximize the quality potential of the coffees. His elder brother, José Luiz, handles production and Luiz Henrique does quality control and sales.

The lot selected for this competition is a Red Catucaí 785, picked by hand and pulped on the same day. A 36-hour fermentation in water was used to remove the mucilage. This technique was learned through knowledge passed on by the Federal Institute of Espírito Santo. Drying was done on a paved patio for 15 days until the coffee reached 11.5% humidity.