The goal is to value the work of small producers and help them sell their specialty coffees directly, without intermediaries, as well as training new baristas, through the Association of Young Baristas, which is in the process of formalization

Marcio Braga da Cruz has always been an entrepreneur. A foreign trade graduate, with an MBA, his sales ranged from condoms to helicopter parts, having worked in the area for 23 years. He went to the United States for a working season, about 15 years ago and, for the first time, tried a different coffee, which did not cause heartburn or gastritis.

He had not been drinking coffee for many years, since, despite liking it a lot, his body reacted to the drink. He did not know what coffee that was, but he soon found out: they were specialty coffees from different parts of the world. He discovered his ailment was not caused by the coffee itself, but rather by excessive roasting. He fell in love with the subject and began to acquire more knowledge in extraction methods and search for Brazilian specialty coffees. Finally, in 2014, he decided to retire from the foreign trade market, return to Brazil, and start working with specialty coffees.

In 2015, he opened his first coffee shop in Contagem, in the state of Minas Gerais, called Dolcicaffé, which is now run by his fiancée, Josiane Gomes de Oliveira.

In the coffee shop, he began to witness firsthand the predatory work of some middlemen, who offered specialty coffees from small producers, not caring about providing adequate compensation to the still weakest link in the chain: the producer. “Many of these professionals are honest and are true coffee hunters,” he remarked.

“The last straw was when one of them came to the coffee shop, offering specialty coffees already at a low price. In the middle of the conversation, he told me that, if we made an even smaller offer, we would take the whole batch, as he knew that the producer was in a very difficult financial situation,” said Da Cruz.

That was when he realized that he could do something to improve this picture. He dismissed the middleman and began working on an idea to help small producers of specialty coffees not only to be able to sell directly, but also to improve their product.

“I always wanted to be part of a social project to help other people but still had not found something that I could identify with. That was until I made a drastic decision,” recalled Da Cruz.

He decided to look for a place in Belo Horizonte where he could set up a coffee shop that would offer small producers of specialty coffees a structure to support and disseminate to the public the origin of each pack.

After much searching, he found the perfect spot: a 106-year-old house, with 200 square meters in area, set in a plot of 450 square meters, listed as Historic Heritage, located at Avenida do Estado. The problem was that it was in extremely poor condition. In addition, he did not have all the money that the landlord wanted. As a true warrior, however, he did not lose heart: he relinquished all the wealth he gained in his 23 years of work.

With the little money left, he began the remodeling work. He literally got his hands dirty and, in five months, the Cafeteria do Produtor (“the Producer’s Coffee Shop”) was finished. It has 45 seats and offers more than 20 methods for preparing specialty coffees.

He bought three used espresso machines – La Cimballi, Rancilio and La San Marco – and restored them. “They were quite worn. I disassembled them and fixed them myself. They are, on average, 20 years old but are in perfect working order and now look beautiful after the remodeling work,” he said.

(espresso machines that Marcio fixed)

He is offering several methods of preparation such as cold brew tower, Kalita Iced Coffee, Hario V60, two Chemex models, two Yama models, Canadian, Clever, Aeropress, Pressca, Vietnamese, Kone (perforated brass nano-filter), Osaka and Homart (perforated stainless steel nano-filters), Syphon, and French press. He also bought equipment for the preparation of Cold Brew Nitro.

The project

Da Cruz will provide advisory services to small producers so that they have greater awareness of the beverage that they produce. “We also wish to encourage them to address the postharvest period in the best possible way, and to let them roast their own coffee and know how much it is worth,” he explained.

“The region of Minas Gerais still has many small producers who do not know how to differentiate grains and who mix and dry without the right criteria. They could be producing small batches of specialty coffees if they had more information. That is what we wish to do, as every coffee crop, in theory, can produce small batches of specialty coffees,” he said.

Da Cruz also wishes to help in bureaucratic aspects. He will be offering advisory services so that producers can export their coffees directly to coffee shops in other countries. “There is a lot of bureaucracy involved, as well as the language barrier. We are here to help them. We wish to be a center of reference for specialty coffees aimed at small producers,” he stated.

Thus, Da Cruz believes that he will be encouraging other producers as well. We are already working with roughly 20 producers, marketing their coffees, and plan to work with many more. At the end of the month, I will be visiting Caparaó and hope to bring some specialty coffees there,” he said.

Cafeteria do Produtor will be offering roasting courses, which will be given in the coffee shop, in Belo Horizonte. “We are going to use an Attila 15 kg and are already contacting another Brazilian manufacturer to have a smaller roaster, with 1.2 kg in capacity, which is more compatible with the micro-batches,” he said.

Young Baristas Association Project

Da Cruz is also working on another very ambitious project: training young people from poor communities to professionalize them in barista and roasting activities. To do this, we are formalizing the creation of the Young Baristas Association.

It is idealized to last six months, the first three months being theoretical and the rest, practical. The first group, formed by 10 students, will begin activities in January 2018.

To participate, students are required to attend public school, be 15-18 years of age, and have good grades. The course will have three instructors, all employees of Cafeteria do Produtor.

The idea is that, once they finish the course, they are already employed in other coffee shops, a market that has been experiencing major growth.

So far, Da Cruz has no support from any public agency and has no partners. “I firmly believe in my project and I know that, in time, I will receive the necessary assistance,” he concluded.

Service

Cafeteria do Produtor

Rua do Pernambuco, 380, Belo Horizonte