Illy Partner – Nova Cintra Farm
Nova Cintra famr, in the municipality of Espírito Santo do Pinhal, was founded in 1901 and belonged to the great-grandfather of Fábio Barbosa, current owner along with his wife, Ana Lucia. When his great-grandfather died, New Cintra was inherited by her great uncle, who sold the farm to another family. That, by the way, preserved over the years, the whole architectural set that forms the Nova Cintra. Even a bell that was first played when they started activities is still there.
Almost a century has passed, and Fábio Barbosa, a Brazilian manager and executive (former President of ABN Amro, Real, Santander Brasil Banks and Grupo Abril), bought the farm back in 1994. From then on, the property has been renewed, Thanks mainly to the participation of Ana Lúcia in charge of business and the partnership signed with Illy Café.
About eight years ago, the Nova Cintra started selling the coffees to Illy and, for four years, the partnership was consolidated. “At first, Illy demanded a quality standard that we did not have. I have to admit the crop was a mess. But little by little we were learning. Until then, we produced a lot but we did not worry about quality. With the help of Illy, we managed to improve a lot”, says Ana Lucia.
Dedicated and passionate about what she does, on the day of our visit Ana Lucia was still recovering from a bicycle fall on Paulista Avenue and was walking on crutches. But really wanted us to visit her.
“The biggest advantage of working with Illy Café is the attention paid to us, we have built a much closer bond than with the others exporters. If there is a problem, they tell us what to do to resolve, send their agronomy team to a technical visit. Thus, they analyze the demands in loco. Anyway, Illy is a company that invests in its producers”, finishes Ana Lúcia.
Last year, Nova Cintra exported 500 coffee bags to Illy Café, which accounts for ten percent of the farm’s entire production.
Nova Cintra
Nova Cintra has about 750 hectares, 210 of these dedicated to coffee production, which is planted at an average altitude of 900 meters, at a temperature of 22 degrees. 160 of the 210 hectares are in production, since the farm intends to make major renovations at their crop. In Nova Cintra they use Mundo Novo, Catuaí, Bourbon, Obatã and Catucaí varieties. They work with the peeled, natural and green café cereja variety. Their coffees reache, on average, a score of 78 to 82 points. They also have 213 Nelore cattle herd stem and two types of hardwood, African Mahogany and Australian Cedar.
All the coffee is tracked and separated by quality. They have an average annual production of 35 coffee bags per hectare, with a goal of reaching 40-45 bags per hectare. They estimate that they will produce 4000 bags in 2017. About 70% of the production is mechanized. There are 40 permanent employees and at harvest time this number rises to 70. Eighteen families live on the farm with a quality structure: proper houses, besides school and sports. All collaborators can use the library, the computer room and take music classes.
Nova Cintra expanded with the incorporation of two other properties, Santa Clara I and Santa Clara II Farms.
Fazenda Nova Cintra – Espírito Santo do Pinhal – SP
Estrada Areia Branca – S/N
Cep 13990-000
www.fazendanovacintra.com.br
