Brazil – Sitio Taquero

Roberto Bernardes lives with his family in a community called Posses, in the municipality of Campestre MG. His father moved to the region looking for an opportunity: a piece of land to grow coffee. Roberto is the third generation of farmers and recalls his early days. “Our production was quite limited, and it was so hard to trade our coffees. No paved roads, no mechanical driers, basic information was simply not available, and we had no idea if we were going to cover our costs with prices offered”. Roberto has worked with his father since he was 13 years old. With the support of his wife Bernadete and sons Elielton and Roberto Jr., Mr. Bernardes grows Yellow Catuai at Sitio Taquara. A "Sitio" is a family-owned small farm compared to "Fazendas" which are large commercial production farms. The name "Taquara" is a variety of bamboo quite common in Brazil.