Sítio Lambari is a small farm owned and managed by Edson Ramon da Silva and his three brothers. The brothers grew up in a small town in the Mantiqueira region where farming was common. In 1997, the brothers decided to try their hand at farming and bought the land that is today known as Sítio Lambari. Since they did not know how to start a coffee farm from scratch they sought the help of consultants and agronomists in order to set and reach their goals. One thing they agreed initially was important was to restore native vegetation as the land is located at high altitude with headwaters. They isolated 2 hectares for this restoration and planted some native tree seedlings.
Today the brothers have 50,000 coffee trees planted on 25 hectares with an estimated 800 bags produced annually. The main varieties grown are Yellow Bourbon, Red Catuaí and Mundo Novo. Recently they invested in drying machines and in facilities to improve the process of moving harvested beans to drying patios so that bad fermentation and other undesired affects can be avoided.
The total farm area is 45 hectares, and, in addition to coffee, the brothers grow bananas on 6 hectares and have dairy livestock on another 12 hectares.
Edson Ramon is considered the informal leader as he is the eldest brother and dedicated the most time to studying all aspects of farm management. Regarding the future of the farm, Edson Ramon says, “We need to keep investing in quality and in machinery, facilities and infrastructure as well if we want to succeed and achieve the best results for our coffees in cuppings. And by this, we’ll have an efficient and sustainable work model, which will allow us to grow competitively in coffee business.”
The Mantiqueira microregion is home to over 2,000 smallholder coffee farmers with a quality potential that urges to be explored. Our exporting partners at CarmoCoffees recognized this potential and decided to build two strategically placed mills (called "beneficios") with washing and processing capabilities, strategically selected for their accessibility to the region's coffee growers. Beneficio Pedra Branca is nestled in the Pedra Branca mountainside in Pedralva City, and the other, Beneficio Presente do Sol, is located in the city of Heliodora — both beneficios were farms managed by their former owners before joining CarmoCoffees.
Pedra Branca was the first of the beneficios, with CarmoCoffees partnership starting in 2012. Carmo bought the farm in 2013 making it part of their official structure. Following the same model, Present do Sol became part of CarmoCoffees in 2014.
The proximity of the beneficios enable the region's quality potential with accessibility to modern equipment for processing where there was otherwise a barrier to entry due to lack of knowledge, time, budget, infrastructure, and the price of labor involved with processing at a quality standard.
Beneficio Presente do Sol has nine mechanical dryers and covered patios. Beneficio Pedra Branca has eight mechanical dryers, covered patios, and three African drying beds. The production of both beneficios is at 50,000 bags annually.
For more information about coffee production in Brazil, visit our Brazil origin page.
