Nestled in the region of Mococa, Brazil, you’ll find one of our longstanding producer partners - Fazenda Ambiental Fortaleza (FAF). Translating to ‘Environmental Fortress Farm’ in Portuguese – here, farmers produce beautiful coffees, in sustainable and innovative ways.
FAF has been in the Barretto Family since 1850. In 2001, Silvia Barretto inherited the farm, along with her husband Marcos Croce. Together they began to transform what was a traditional farm with 150 farmhands into the farm of their dreams.
Silvia’s keen interest of the natural and organic lifestyle has helped shape the path of FAF. Back when they inherited the farm, their dream and mission was to convert the farm into a sustainable business that took into consideration the environment while producing high-quality coffee
Today, FAF has been transformed. Not only is their sustainably-grown, high-quality coffee celebrated by coffee connoisseurs worldwide, but they are a centre for coffee studies, who welcome arts, sustainability projects and volunteering. FAF’s coffee knowledge is shared and is a leading force in the creation of the Bobolink coffees.
Here is a quote from our friends at FAF:
"The biggest difference between FAFCoffees and other farmers/exporters in Brazil is that FAF develops communities. We have devoted ourselves to working with smallholder farmers. Our group is made up of a collective of mountainous neighborhoods, where water is birthed from natural springs to form the beginning of flowing rivers. We protect these springs as well as treatment downstream, implementing filtration systems in our farms. We focus on building living soils and our landscape mixes the (South) Atlantic Rainforest with our farms allowing for a healthy habitat for forests and wildlife to coexist with production. As a group we focus on producing delicious coffee to drink from unique terroir, great genetics, and refined processes creating sensorial portfolio and consistency. We cultivate excellence beyond the taste in the cup by together professionalizing our family farmers, bringing greater financial stability, pride in occupation while striving to a more balanced and regenerative farming model."
