Fabio and Fernando da Silva are brothers who own Sitio do Valdir, a 15-hectare farm their father Valdir took management of in 1980, after his wife inhereited the land. "We grew up playing among the coffee trees and watching our parents working hard in the farm," Fabio says. "We were raised with coffee money, so our wish to take care of all of it is natural."
Despite the tendency for coffee in Brazil to be grown under full sun, the brothers have installed shade plants to slow the coffee's maturation and create a sweeter cup. They grow Catuai, Acaia, and Mundo Novo, and because of the altitude and the steep slopes of the mountainous area where the farm is located, the picking is done by hand—another relative rarity for Brazil. After picking, the cherries are dried on raised beds that are shared by the coffee-growing community of Ribeirão de Santo Antônio.
