Dead plant roots, compacted soil, no organic matter, erosion, and damaged soil life. At the beginning of the 21st century, this now picturesque farm looked completely different. Founded more than a century ago as a coffee research center for the University of California, it served as a sugarcane farm in the second half of the 20th century. The way the farm was managed led to severe degradation of the soil and ultimately to financial ruin.
In 2004, the farm was taken over by Dr. Paulo Cesar Saldanha Rodrigues and his nephew Luiz Saldanha Rodrigues. The former was a visionary entrepreneur, the latter an agronomy student and aspiring coffee Q-grader. They had big plans to show that agriculture can regenerate a farm and that farming can heal soils instead of just destroying them.
Not long after acquiring the farm, Paulo and Luiz took a flight and suffered a tragic plane crash, in which Paulo lost his life. Luiz decided to continue the dream with his wife Flavia, and they still live on the farm with their two daughters Heloisa and Maria to this day.
Today, 100% of the farm's coffee plants have been renewed since the beginning of this adventure. Furthermore, the structures and production processes, harvesting, wet mill, drying, storage, and dry mill have been modernized, and a sustainable production management system has been established.
Today, with the mission of producing high-quality coffee for consumers, society, and the environment, the married couple, both Q-graders, share the same love for coffee quality.
They dream of passing this passion on to the next generation. With their knowledge of agriculture, sustainability, and coffee quality, their coffees compete at a global level.
