DATERRA

Daterra, falling inside Brazil’s famed Cerrado, which makes up nearly 23 percent of the entire country, emerges as a bright star in the development and production of Specialty coffee. They are the first Rainforest Alliance accredited farm in Brazil and the world’s first ‘A’ grade accredited farm for sustainability. Walking through the big farm with 2.700 hectares of plantation, a paradise will open up with various birds and abundant wildlife under the usual tropical trees. Over 60% of the land they own is given over to nature reserves. In terms of operation, the farm is divided into 216 plots, each overseen and overseen by an agronomic. The coffee kinds are fully exploited and developed to discover the most ideal component of the desired flavor profile in each of these lots.

Selective mechanical picking is quite common in Brazil. Before selecting a specific batch of the completed product, coffee samples will be picked, processed, and roasted to confirm flavor characteristics.

Coffee grading is also done rigorously using carefully calibrated mill equipment. The procedure is divided into multiple steps, beginning with density grading to eliminate surplus grain, followed by dry grain and size grading. The coffee beans are dried on the concrete floor for 24 hours after being sorted and processed, and the process concludes with a drum drying procedure to maintain consistency across the whole batch of produced coffee.

Daterra’s tasting staff can precisely identify the components that make up each blend by cupping all of the variables, ensuring the uniformity of flavor profile necessary. The varietals may differ significantly since they are chosen based on their flavor profile rather than their varietal type, which for Full Bloom includes ripe stonefruit, blueberry, and lots of caramel. Beans are size, density, and electrical pentachromatically sorted before being packed in 24.2kg Penta Boxes, a packaging technology developed by Daterra to protect the quality of green for as long as possible.

Luis’s ambition of creating greatness inspired the creation of Daterra. Perfection in environmental and economic sustainability, as well as, most importantly, excellence in quality. In 28 years, this goal has become a reality. Daterra becomes the first Rainforest Alliance accredited farm in Brazil and later the world’s first ‘A’ grade accredited farm for sustainability. The whole production, consumption, and waste treatment process adhere to the most exacting requirements. At the same time, the farm’s welfare program, meals for workers, and packaging method are all positive aspects worth knowing about. They truly apply their aspiration to the community’s and society’s shared growth.

Daterra’s coffee is of the highest quality, and their relentless quest for perfection provides stunning and, at times, startling outcomes. Three important core ranges are being produced:

– The ‘Classics’ are precisely that: the greatest Cerrado coffees with the benefits of Daterra excellence. They score 80-86 points.

– The 86-89 point coffees from the current menu are included in the ‘Collection.’ They are the greatest coffees from their plantations, and they are fully processed utilizing the Daterra Penta Process®.

– The ‘Masterpieces,’ a very “small farm” lab where novel methods of growing coffee are tried. The lab is brimming with novel and uncommon varietals, processing processes, drying procedures, and unending tests. They feature a one-of-a-kind cup profile and score of 88+, are entirely traceable, and are planted and cultivated with a history that will never be reproduced.

Daterra, falling inside Brazil’s famed Cerrado, which makes up nearly 23 percent of the entire country, emerges as a bright star in the development and production of Specialty coffee. They are the first Rainforest Alliance accredited farm in Brazil and the world’s first ‘A’ grade accredited farm for sustainability. Walking through the big farm with 2.700 hectares of plantation, a paradise will open up with various birds and abundant wildlife under the usual tropical trees. Over 60% of the land they own is given over to nature reserves. In terms of operation, the farm is divided into 216 plots, each overseen and overseen by an agronomic. The coffee kinds are fully exploited and developed to discover the most ideal component of the desired flavor profile in each of these lots.

Selective mechanical picking is quite common in Brazil. Before selecting a specific batch of the completed product, coffee samples will be picked, processed, and roasted to confirm flavor characteristics.

Coffee grading is also done rigorously using carefully calibrated mill equipment. The procedure is divided into multiple steps, beginning with density grading to eliminate surplus grain, followed by dry grain and size grading. The coffee beans are dried on the concrete floor for 24 hours after being sorted and processed, and the process concludes with a drum drying procedure to maintain consistency across the whole batch of produced coffee.

Daterra’s tasting staff can precisely identify the components that make up each blend by cupping all of the variables, ensuring the uniformity of flavor profile necessary. The varietals may differ significantly since they are chosen based on their flavor profile rather than their varietal type, which for Full Bloom includes ripe stonefruit, blueberry, and lots of caramel. Beans are size, density, and electrical pentachromatically sorted before being packed in 24.2kg Penta Boxes, a packaging technology developed by Daterra to protect the quality of green for as long as possible

CULTIVATION AND HARVEST

Planting

Many people are surprised when we say that Daterra has over 12 million coffee plants. Out of our 6.600 hectares, we have 2.700 hectares of plantation – everything else is environmental preservation (that’s over 50% of our area!)

The farm is divided into 216 small plots that range from 5 to 15 hectares. These plots are managed individually – we monitor each one separately and, by doing that, we can make sure to use only the right amount of water, fertilizer or defensive necessary for that individual plot. This is our mini-farm concept.

Harvesting

Each terroir is harvested individually, based on the optimum maturation level of the cherries. This moment is determined by cupping the coffee before harvesting as many times as we need, until it reaches the best ripening spot.

Separation

Those wonderful coffee cherries must be separated and sorted to produce the very best coffee beans. Cherries are selected by its natural maturation stage, in a new unique technology. It guides each coffee cherry individually to the right maturation group it belongs. It is a process that took over 10 year to be designed, developed and built.

Drying

Beans are dried with precision, to the right levels of moisture and are then taken to “rest” in wooden silos for over 40 days, softening its taste and highlighting all the positive attributes that will be later found in the cup.

Sorting

All minor defects are sorted out in a complex sorting process that uses from screen size and a modern density separation, to a set of 5 electronic sorters. Those sorters work with different and complementary light-sorting systems, which narrow defects down to the lowest levels. The output is an extremely clean and pure coffee batch, containing only the most perfect beans produced with lots care by our people.

Packing

Penta Pack® is an outstanding package for excellent green coffees. It is composed of a carton box with two foiled bags inside. The content goes through vaccum and inert gases insertion. Each bag weighs 12,10 kg/26 lbs and the total box weight is 24,2 kg/53,25 lbs. It is extremely easy to handle and it has proved to keep – and in some cases to improve – coffee quality for over 3 years storage. Developed by Daterra the Penta Pack® is patented internationally.

SUSTAINABILITY

Daterra was conceived in the 80’s, when the term “sustainability” was not even popular as it is today. However the Daterra Coffee project was planned to produce specialty coffee, grounded on environmental preservation and social development. Daterra should be able to ensure consistency and trust to our clients building alliances and partnership.

It took Daterra 10 years to recover the area well enough to produce good quality coffee and begin exporting. The learning experience along these years made it possible for us to be the first Rainforest Alliance certified and ISO 14001 certified coffee farm in Brazil. And later we also added UTZ Kapeh and for a small organic portion of our farm, IBD Organic. And to reinforce the principles of sustainability, we determined we could only sell coffee to sustainably certified importers, in order to stimulate the entire production chain. We also share knowledge among smaller producers to promote social progress and coffee security. Also to develop expertise on how to keep producing high quality coffee in harmony with nature.

CERTIFICATION

– Cup of Excellence finalist in 2001;

– Best coffee from Brazil on the cupping for Quality by Rainforest Alliance in 2005 and 2008;

– Espresso Blend used by World Barista Champion, Troels Poulsen, in 2005;

– Espresso Blend used by World Barista Champion, Klaus Thomsen, in 2006;

– Sustainable farm model by Illy Café in 2008;

– Four out of the six WBC finalists used Daterra coffee in their blends in 2008.

– Coffee used by World Latte Art Champion, Haruna Murayama, in 2010;

– Blend used by World Syphonist Champion, Chizuru Motokawa, in 2010;

– Brazil’s most Sustainable Farm, by Globo Rural Magazine in their 2015 Sustainble Farm Award.