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Following the diversity and regions valorisation movement in Brazil, growers are getting organised in the different producing regions and regional associations are gaining momentum. Focus on APROCAM, the organisation of the Serra da Mantiqueira region. Growers from this region are currently presenting their coffees on algrano for a delivery in Europe early January!
The Serra da Mantiqueira region is named after a mountain chain located in the South of the Minas Gerais state, in the South East of Brazil. The region is composed of 25 municipalities and represents 7800 coffee growers. The region has become famous over the last ten years through its consecutive high representation among the winners of the Cup of Excellence competitions. In fact, the highest score ever given to a coffee (95.18 pts) by the famous competition was received in 2015 by Sebastião Marcio da Silva, a grower from the Serra da Mantiqueira region!
Witnessing the recurring successes of the Mantiqueira’s coffees in national and international coffee quality competitions, a few pioneering growers decided to get recognition of their region’s coffees through a geographical indication (GI), a tool widely used in other industries to identify agricultural products (wines, cheeses, …) according to their specific geographical origin. At the time, almost ten years ago, the issuance of such geographical indication were emerging in Brazil and it was not before 2011, that the association APROCAM (Associação dos Produtores de Café da Mantiqueira) managed to receive its GI after a long process. The next step for the association is to get the Designation of Origin, the most coveted type of GI.
But geographical indication is not an end, it is just a mean to valorise the work of growers and promote the specificities of their region. Lilia Maria Dias Junqueira, who works at APROCAM, told us that
the geographical indication goes beyond a label on a coffee bag, it is collective, it benefits the whole region.
Indeed, GIs can contribute to the creation of a regional brand that goes beyond the specific product and can spark the development of regional tourism for example.
In Brazil, there are currently 4 regions that already managed to get a GI or DO (Região do Cerrado Mineiro, Norte Pioneiro do Paraná and Alta Mogiana) and at least 9 other regions are following this process! It is fantastic to witness this development in Brazil! Great coffees and discoveries will result from this development!
Meet growers of the Serra da Mantiqueira and their coffees on algrano!