Brazil - Fazenda Cachoeira de Gramma
Joining our faithful coffee from PNG, Okalu:
Fazenda Cachoeira de Grama is owned by the Carvalho family and managed (along with 48 other area farms) by Bourbon Specialty exporters. The farm is located in Vale de Grama, which is home to some of Brazil's most "elite" coffee farms, and is an incredibly beautiful region, with rolling hills surrounding the coffee land. It’s a 411-hectare plot with about 100 hectares planted in coffee; they also grow eucalyptus nearby. There are 27 full-time and about 40 seasonal employees tending to the Catuai and Yellow Bourbon trees planted here, the oldest of which dates back to 1956!
The farm has an on-site school for all employees' families to use, and there are about 300 children who take advantage of the services. The school is jointly funded by the Brazilian government and the farmers in the area.
PNG - Okalu
“The Eastern Highlands Province is a mighty and rugged terrain with peaks of the Kratke and Bismarck Ranges soaring to 3700 masl, abundant river systems Asaro and Lamari flowing into the Purari, and lush tropical rain-forest valleys rolling throughout. Home to a phenomenal number of fauna and flora, plant species here are especially diverse. This rich ecosystem and fertile climate provide the incredible potential for high-quality coffee.
Since its introduction in the late 19th century, coffee has always grown well under careful farm management, with little to no fertiliser inputs required. The greatest
challenges stifling the progress of specialty have come from the chronic infrastructure shortfalls and economic instability.
For smallholder farmers in very remote villages of Lufa and Okapa, coffee is the cash crop they rely upon for income, growing as few as 20 trees in gardens amongst multitudes of subsistence crops to feed their families. Access to quality-focused equipment and sorting facilities has historically been unattainable for the farmers of these difficult to traverse regions. Instead, the option for a quick and cheap sale to anyone with the means and willing to transport it to a mill has led to diminishing investment in quality systems and further removal of farmers from realizing their harvest’s true potential.
Enter Maureen Ken, a local businesswoman with a mission to build confidence and long-term relationships with such rural producers, she established Lass Malo Coffee (LMC) in 2015 to focus on accessibility and quality support in the region. Local led with the prosperity of the remote smallholder farming community at heart, LMC provides a convenient bridge for producers to sell their coffee at a value-added price.
The impact of premiums is significant for both the farmers’ livelihoods as well as a vast improvement in quality and consistency across all export grades.
Higher standards demand great care in farm management, harvest and post-harvest practices.
Smallholders hand-pick, wash and float cherries to clean and sort perfectly ripe selections. Cherries are hand pulped the same day before going into fermentation tanks for 24-36 hours. Once fermented, coffee is washed with clean water to remove the mucilage and then moved onto raised beds to dry under shade for 3-4 days. Dried parchment is transported free of charge by LMC trucks to their new and expanding dry mill facility in Goroka.
Continuous improvements at LMC include a new factory to house the latest grading systems to further maximize the quality output and return on investment for these hardworking rural communities in 2022.
The future for the region is burning ever brighter thanks to the dedicated partnerships and vision of Maureen Ken and her teams at LMC.
Upstream Coffee Importers has the privilege to help support LMC by sourcing and supplying green grading equipment so they can process their coffees independently. Supporting female exporters such as Maureen has been one of the pillars of our business since its inception, which is why we are corporate members of the International Women’s Coffee Alliance of Australia.
Through this project, Upstream are committed to continuing to support their efforts as they strive to improve the quality and consistency of their green coffee exports.
50% Brazil, 50% PNG
Caramel, Cacao, Smooth
900-2000masl
