Last Wednesday night (30) was a celebration for coffee growing in Minas Gerais. The best coffees from the 2022 harvest were revealed during the 10th Cerrado Mineiro Region Award. The event, held at Palácio de Cristal, in Uberlândia (MG), brought together around 600 guests, including representatives of the Minas Gerais grain production chain, politicians, authorities and guests.
The initiative, which aims to recognize the work of coffee growers in the Cerrado Mineiro Region and promote the Denomination of Origin, the first achieved for coffee in Brazil, is promoted by the Federation of Coffee Growers of the Cerrado, with the support of Sebrae Minas, and is taking place of the cooperatives Carmocer, Carpec, Coagril, Coocacer Araguari, Coopadap, Expocaccer and MonteCCer, also integrating the six associations: ACARPA, ACA, Assogotardo, Assocafé, Amoca and Appcer as supporters. The event also included partnerships with prominent companies in the coffee segment such as Voiter, Solinftec, Stoller, Syngenta, Pinhalense, Rabobank and Sicoob.
The special ceremony celebrating 50 years of the Cerrado Mineiro Region and 30 years of the Cerrado Coffee Growers Federation was marked by a series of tributes such as the awarding of medals to 20 personalities who explored the Region and wrote history during these five decades. Cafebras, Expocaccer and Educampo were also part of the night's honorees.
The president of the Cerrado Coffee Growers Federation, Francisco Sérgio de Assis, highlighted that 2022 is a year of joy, pride and achievement. “We believe in the strength of associations and cooperativism. The Cerrado Mineiro Region is today the first Denomination of Origin for coffee in Brazil where we work exclusively for the well-being of our coffee grower, who generates wealth and has transformed this region. Every city where there is Cerrado coffee has a higher HDI (Human Development Index). This proves that coffee is a generator of wealth and a distributor of income”, he points out.
For the manager of the Northwest and Alto Paranaíba Region of Sebrae Minas, Marcos Alves, the Cerrado Mineiro Region Award goes far beyond a trophy, as it represents the efforts of rural entrepreneurs who constantly seek quality, in addition to highlighting the credibility acquired for coffee growing in Cerrado Mineiro in 50 years. "Sebrae Minas participated in the entire construction strategy of the Award, since its conception. We value and support initiatives that support rural producers and promote the market. The winning lots carry, in addition to special grains and added value, consistent stories that represent the best thing we have in the region: the people!”, he highlights.
Sérgio Mariuzzo, communications manager at Stoller, one of the Award's sponsors, says that it is essential to publicize the work of coffee growers in the region. “In the 50 years of the Cerrado Mineiro, we are faced with several examples of success, organization and associations, which are inspiration for many Brazilian coffee growers. And participating in this is very rewarding and motivates us. It also reinforces our mission of always being close to the customer, actively participating in their challenges and achievements”, he assesses.
The competition saw the participation of 56 finalists in the Natural Coffee, Peeled Cherry and Induced Fermentation categories. In total, 4.500 producers were represented from the 55 municipalities of the Region, which produces, on average, 6 million bags per year, with a record number of registrations with 370 samples.
Sebrae Minas was responsible for the analysis that follows requirements pre-established by the Specialty Coffee Association (SCA). The standard classification method evaluates the physical quality of raw beans in a 350-gram sample from each batch of coffee.
In the Cooperative Champions Stage, the winners were chosen, divided into the three categories. From this selection, nine finalists were taken to the grand prize, the Regional Stage.
The announcement of the winners, made both in person and online, encouraged the cooperatives to compete for the best coffees of 2022. The scores were fierce and the champions were chosen by a group of ten highly experienced and professional referees, after rigorous analysis. sensory. To be considered special, the product must reach a minimum score of 80 points. The award-winning coffees were named by the official barista of the Cerrado Mineiro Region, Paula Dulgheroff, according to their sensorial characteristics.
The first category presented was Peeled Cherry, with 46 samples registered, followed by Induced Fermentation, with 130, and Natural with 194 entries.
Peeled Cherry Category
1st place - José Aparecido Naimeg - 90,05 points – Expocaccer
2nd place - Eduardo Henrique Soares Pereira - 89,13 points - Carmocer
3rd place - Maria Aparecida Pires Ruiz - 88,28 points - Expocaccer
Category Induced Fermentation
1st place - Agilmar Ferreira Pinto - 88,75 points - Expocaccer
2nd place - Lázaro Ribeiro de Oliveira - 87,79 points - Expocaccer
3rd place - Ismael José de Andrade - 87,70 points - Carpec
Natural Category
1st place - Jorge Fernando Naimeg – 90,94 points - Expocaccer
2nd place - Guilherme Sebastião F. Romão – 89,53 points – Expocaccer
3rd place - Enivaldo Marinho Pereira – 88,16 points – Carmocer
Every year, the Cerrado Mineiro Region Award reserves a moment in its celebration to highlight actions involving involvement with the environment and the community, promoting the development of the Region, through two recognitions: the School of Attitude Trophy and the Trophy Sustainable Attitude.
In this edition, the Sustainable Attitude Trophy, which recognizes good agricultural practices among the finalist properties, was won by the Três Meninas farm, in Monte Carmelo, owned by coffee farmers Paula and Marcelo Urtado.
The School of Attitude trophy was won by APAE de Carmo do Paranaíba, with the Mãos Talentosas project, registered by the Carmocer cooperative, an initiative that uses art as an objective therapy in favor of the motor, cognitive and emotional development of students.
The 10th edition of the Cerrado Mineiro Region Award featured a new feature, the Woman of Attitude Trophy, a recognition of women coffee farmers, who are increasingly active in the segment. Among the registered samples, the three best producers were awarded the trophy. The champions were Maria Aparecida Fernandes Pires Ruiz (Peeled Cherry category), Ana Paula Curiacos Urtado (Induced Fermentation category) and Roberta Soares Pereira (Natural category).
One of the most anticipated moments of the night, the live auction, saw the participation of finalists from 1st to 10th place in the Natural category, 1st to 5th in the Peeled Cherry category and 1st to 3rd in the Induced Fermentation category.
The organization of the Award brought together nine buyers to win the best lots produced by the Region in 2022, namely Expocaccer, Volcafé, Café Cajubá, Carpec, MCC/Real Coffe, Sebrae Minas, Nucoffee, Olam and Voiter. The attraction reached historic records and, in total, R$629.602 thousand were handled, with an average price of R$15.740 per bag.
The biggest buyer of the night was Expocaccer with a lot sold for R$ 127.360 thousand. The most valued lot was the first placed in the Natural category, from producer Jorge Fernando Naimeg, which reached 90,94 points and was sold for R$ 62.017 thousand per bag, with the consortium for this lot formed by Expocaccer, Café Cajubá, Sebrae Minas and Nucoffee.
The schools participating in the Escola de Attitude Trophy will share the prize of R$44.072 thousand, equivalent to 10% of sales collected from the coffees in the auction. The amount of R$ 88.888 thousand, approximately 30% of the amount raised from the auction will be allocated to the works of the first Hospital de Amor in Minas Gerais, initiated by the Hospital do Câncer de Patrocínio “Dr. José Figueiredo”.
The superintendent director of Expocaccer, Simão Pedro de Lima, highlighted the importance of valuing the champion lots. “It is not only the appreciation of quality, it is also the recognition of all the work carried out during the year. Care with cultural treatments, selective harvesting, post-harvest preparation, drying, among other elements. The producer's story is contained in each grain. Instead of price, value was added.”
“Without certainty, another event that will be marked in the history of coffee growing in the Cerrado Mineiro Region. In addition to celebrating the region's 50th anniversary and being able to honor several pioneers, we had the remarkable moment of breaking the record as the most valued coffee in the history of the Cerrado of Minas Gerais, the result of intercooperation between the auction buyers, to whom we are very grateful for valuing and honoring the work of coffee growers in the Cerrado”, highlights Juliano Tarabal, superintendent of the Federation of Coffee Growers of the Cerrado.
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