October Green Coffee Outlook: Bom Dia Brazil

An eye-popping look at how coffee is processed in Brazil, followed by an update on coffees in transit.

Skip to the transit updates.

Early on in my coffee career I was tasked with supplying marketing material to the green buyer for a well-known Bay Area roastery who had just purchased a Brazilian coffee lot from us. I sent him our profile of the farm, attached a single photo from our library, and figured that was that. Fast-forward to a few months later, I wound up seated next to this buyer at an SCA event (my first Expo, yay!). It was the first time we’d met face to face, and I was eager to make the in-person connection following our exchange over the Brazil coffee he’d bought. I nervously introduced myself, and as I thrust my hand out to shake his, he leaned in and said, “my grandma could’ve picked a better photo than what you sent me”.

I suppose that was meant to be an insult (to me, and to grandma!), and looking back at the picture I sent, I sort of understand his disappointment (pictured below). The photo captures a receiving tank filled with coffee cherries at a wide mix of ripeness, some clearly past their prime while others bright green, with many leaves and twigs mixed in. While the colorful contrast is quite beautiful IMO, it subverts our expectations of we may think of as “best practices” for post harvest processing, and it’s certainly not the image that comes to mind when you think of “Specialty Coffee”.

Rest assured, the coffee in the photo underwent intensive sorting before we purchased the final green, and was fairly uniform by the time we received it. Had it not, the offer sample would have contained so many physical defects that it would be rejected it on site!

The fact of the matter is, ripeness is not considered when picking coffee in Brazil, overlooked in the service of time and efficiency. Instead, that responsibility happens later in the processing chain. It’s a topsy-turvy way of managing coffee quality, but it’s what happens when labor comes at such a premium that innovation and mechanization are needed to keep coffee profitable. Having just returned from a Brazil buying trip, I’m here to tell you that this is what Specialty Coffee production in Brazil looks like, and an important reality that is captured in that photo.

When you visit Brazilian coffee farms during the harvest season, one of the first things you might notice is the mix of cherry ripeness on the trees. From unripe and bright green, to wilted dark purple cherries that have dried on the branches, it’s a sight I’ve never seen anywhere else. Most farmers only harvest their trees 1 or 2 times during the season, so they want to make sure all the coffee has ripened before doing so, even if it means letting much of it go far beyond its peak.

There are probably examples of this in other origins, but it was a first for me. In most other countries we buy from, you see farmers picking their coffee multiple times during the harvest season, discriminately selecting only ripe cherries, and leaving behind the green coffee so that it can continue to ripen. It’s an important first step in quality control, and one that involves a lot of hand labor that is just too expensive in Brazil.

Instead, harvesting is managed by either mechanical harvesters, or what they call “hand machines”. In both cases, the goal is to strip pick all of the coffee cherries in one fell swoop.

Mechanical harvesters come in different sizes, but generally function the same. They sort of look like a giant metal tunnel on wheels. The harvesters are driven over the wide rows of coffee shrubs, “picking” the cherries as they go. Inside the “tunnel” are two large columns that rotate, each with long nylon rods that agitate the coffee shrubs as they pass through, shaking the cherries from the branches. The coffee is then funneled to either side of the harvester, and moved to a collection tank by an auger and conveyor system.

It’s an incredible sight, and when I first saw this in action, I thought the machinery would surely destroy the trees! Not only did they come out the other side relatively unharmed, the harvester left very few, if any, coffee behind. Some even prune the trees as they pass through, leaving behind a row of well kempt coffee shrubs with topiary-like appeal.

One major upside of using mechanical harvesters is that you can scale farm production without having to scale labor. For example, we saw 100 hectare farms in Brazil harvested by 1-2 people driving mechanical harvesters. Contrast this with a 100 hectare farm in Nicaragua that requires 100+ people to pick during the harvest peak.

Cost of labor is the root of both systems. The reality for the Nicaraguan coffee farmer is that they rely on an informal workforce to pick coffee for low wages, generally made up of the local indigenous population and migrant workers. Brazil, on the other hand, has very strict regulations around hiring farm labor that involves contracts assuring monthly salary minimums, and even health insurance. In a word, costs of labor are very high for the Brazilian farmer, pushing them to find savings in a much more technified system.

Our YouTube video offers a closer look at mechanical harvesting in action.

Our recent video post of a mechanical harvester in action brought lots of interest and comments. One person asked if we might expect to see this in other coffee countries soon. As it’s getting tougher to find people willing to pick coffee, it’s a question worth asking. For big driving mechanical harvesters like these, I think the answer is ‘no’, simply because of their size. For one, it requires a lot of room between the rows of coffee to accommodate them (roughly 9′). You literally have to plant your farm around them. Also, these machines can’t be driven on steep terrain. It wouldn’t work in steep growing regions of Guatemala or Colombia, for example, or even parts of Brazil, as we saw on our trip.

Another widely used harvester in Brazil is the vibrating “hand harvester”. These consist of a long pole that has something like an inverted rake on the end, but with fewer finger-like tines. Those tines vibrate, and as workers run the rakes over the long coffee branches, they agitate the cherries to the ground where they are collected. The process is much faster than strip picking by hand, and while requires more people to perform than the driving harvesters, a large estate can still be picked by just a few people. These hand-held machines are ideal for smaller farms, or those that are not planted with the larger machines in mind.

Before I get too caught up in the complexities of processing coffee in Brazil (Tom has a more in depth, and insightful piece on the subject HERE), I want to circle back to our August trip. There’s a lot more to see than just harvesting coffee, after all.

All of our travel was in the state of Minas Geraís, which alone accounts for more than half of Brazil coffee exports. There’s relatively good altitude in the Minas region, with the eastern side of the state cut through by the Espinhaço mountain range that stretches as far North as neighboring coffee-growing state of Bahía. You find concentrations of coffee farms along this stretch, and it’s just West of here where most of our visits were focused.

The first half of our trip followed a loop from São Sebastião do Paraíso, through Serra da Canastra region, up to Patrocínio and back. Along this route we had the opportunity to visit with farmers whose coffees we’ve purchased for several years, but whom we’ve never met (like Jose Gomes, Amarildo Jose Borges, and Luis Otavio Turati).

The topography is more “rolling hills” than steep terrrain, and every farm we stopped at used the driving type mechanical harvesters. Most of the farms employed some kind of irrigation infrastucture too, some with very impressive water collection and filtration systems.

The latter half of our trip was spent in, and around, Santa Rita do Sapucaí region, where we’ve been buying coffee for the last few years. Most recently, we’ve been working with a local exporter in Santa Rita, called Agrorigem, run by local 3rd generation coffee farmer named Daniele Alkmin.

Dani got her start in coffee by helping her father, Carlos Henrique, at their farm, Santa Rita de Cassia. It was only in the last couple of years that she decided to add “coffee exporter” to her repertoire. Her enthusiasm for the coffees and farmers from her town is immediately apparent when you meet her, and she’s made it her mission to not only export her own coffee, but also to act as a sort of representative of the coffees from Santa Rita.

It’s no wonder Dani was elected president of “Mulheres Empreendedoras do Cafe”, a local women’s coffee association that includes all parts of the chain, not just farmers. This year we were fortunate to buy coffee from several association members, including Dani, and she took us to visit a few of their farms during our trip.

Coffee farms in Santa Rita lie in stark contrast to the farms we’d visited earlier in our trip. They look a lot more like your typical Central American farm, planted on steeper hillsides, the rows of trees much closer together. Because of this, they have to be harvested using the hand machines, which means a higher cost of production than those harvested by the larger harvesters. While most farms were still 100+ hectares, we saw a lot of small producer farmers too, in particular around the Carmo de Minas region (only an hour from Santa Rita). And by “small”, I mean 1 hectare small!

One such farm was run by a woman named Marta Vanilda Teixeira, and her husband Evandro. They manage their 1 hectare farm like any other small producers we work with; on their own, and without any outside labor to pick coffee during the harvest season. Last year they produced 67 bags, 30 of which were Specialty, which we bought. It was one of the best coffees in last year’s shipment, and we were lucky enough to buy their total Specialty output again this year (24 bags).

So circling back to my story in at the lead: Could this person’s grandma have picked a better photo than what I sent? Perhaps he was right. While I still stand by the image being an accurate image of Brazilian Specialty coffee, there’s definitely more aesthetically pleasing imagery in the coffee lands of Brazil, which I saw first hand.

Here’s a small selection of photos from our August trip highlighting some of the beautiful places and faces we visited. Click to enlarge and read the captions.


We’ve closed out Summer with a lot of coffee arrivals

Over the last two months we’ve received around a dozen containers of coffee, most of which covers our contracts in Africa and Central America. Notable arrivals from Central America include two Guatemala containers filled with the coffees from our Proyecto Xinabajul buying program in Huehuetenango, as well as our final Costa Rica box, which we’re still in the process of transferring to our warehouse.

In terms of African coffees, we’ve received several containers from Ethiopia, and Kenya. This includes our cooperative coffees from Western Ethiopia, like Nano Challa, and Duromina (the latter launches Wednesday), as well as a few boxes filled with beautiful wet and dry process lots from Guji and Yirga Cheffe. Add the balance of our Kenya contracts to this list, and we have enough stellar lots to roll out fresh and exciting coffees to the site through the holiday season!

On the incoming side of things, we have a container shipping from Indonesia this month that includes coffees from Flores, Java, and Sulawesi with an ETA toward the end of the year. We’ve also finalized contracts in Rwanda and Burundi, both shaping up to be late ’24 arrivals. And last but not least, we have 16 Colombia lots leaving port of Buenaventura this week, with an ETA end of October. We are super excited about this one, and it includes a little of everything: regional blends from Inzá, honey process coffee from Aponte, variety separations of Wush Wush, Chiroso, and Gesha, and the return of coffees from Urrao and Caicedo! We fully expect to start trickling those to the site by mid-November, so keep your eyes peeled.

Check out the full list of contracted coffees and ETA’s below.


Upcoming Coffees October/November

Below is a list of upcoming green coffees currently on the schedule to be added to our website for Augus. This list is still being updated, and will see our first Ethiopian and Kenyan coffees by the end of the month.

October/November Outlook (so far – lots more to come!):

CoffeesBags
Costa Rica Dry Process Hacienda Sonora40
El Salvador Honey Process Anacafe5
Ethiopia Agaro Duromina60
Ethiopia Dry Process Korate60
Ethiopia Uraga Gogogu30
Ethiopia Dry Process Birbirsa Coop60
Guatemala Xinabajul Evelio Villatoro20
Guatemala Patzún Finca Santa Anita12
Guatemala Xinabajul Producers29
Guatemala San Diego Buena Vista Java33
Guatemala Huehuetenango Boqueroncito43
Guatemala Dry Process Finca Rosma10
India Balmadi Estate Peaberry25
Kenya Nyeri Kamoini AB30
Kenya Othaya Gatuyaini AB30
Mexico Organic Chiapas El Desvió22
Mexico Organic Chiapas El Rosario24
Nicaragua Cafetalera Buenos Aires Peaberry5
Nicaragua Maracaturra Los Medios30
Nicaragua Buenos Aires Maracaturra8
Peru Chirinos Alianza de Mujeres 230
Rwanda Kivu Kageyo Peaberry30
Rwanda Rubavu Rwinyoni40
Rwanda Dry Process Mashesha26
Rwanda Dry Process Nyakabingo32
Sumatra Dry Process Kerinci Pendekar20
Sumatra Wet Hulled Kerinci Coop50
Sumatra Giling Basah Bebesen Aulia20
Sumatra Lintong Mutu Batak20
Sweet Maria’s Polar Expresso BlendN/A
Tanzania Honey Process Acacia Hills AB16
Yemen Mokha Saanani100
Sweet Maria's Coffee Shrub Coffee Sourcerer
Sweet Maria’s Coffee Shrub Coffee Sourcerer

Incoming coffees currently on the water: August onward

Please keep in mind that names may change when we list the coffee on our website. Location status of “In Transit” are also a bit of a wild card, as logistical disruptions are out of our control! You also may notice some of the coffees from last month’s list have disappeared. These have likely arrived in the US, and await being added to our launch schedule. Thanks for your patience!

African Incoming Coffees

CoffeesBagsETA
Ethiopia Yirgacheffe Wote Konga60ETA 10/20
Ethiopia Guji Benti Nenka60ETA 10/20
Ethiopia Dry Process Yirgacheffe Konga100ETA 10/20
Ethiopia Dry Process Yirgacheffe Banko Gotiti100ETA 10/20
Ethiopia Geta Bore Lot 860Landed
Ethiopia Dry Process Aba Bulgu60Landed
Ethiopia Dry Process Aba Derese40Landed
Ethiopia Honey Process Senna Katta Mountain2Landed
Ethiopia Dry Process Senna Katta Mountain158Landed
Kenya Othaya Mahiga AA29Arrived
Kenya Nyeri Chinga AB30Arrived
Kenya Nyeri Gatugi AB30Arrived
Kenya Nyeri Rukira Peaberry16Arrived
Kenya Dry Process Kagunyu20Arrived
Burundi Kiganda Murambi60TBD
Burundi Dry Process Murambi31TBD
Burundi Kayanza Kibingo Station50ETD NOV
Burundi Kayanza Gakenke50ETD NOV
Burundi Kabarore Commune Yandaro50ETD NOV
Burundi Dry Process Gakenke20ETD NOV
Burundi Dry Process Masha20ETD NOV
Burundi Honey Process Gakenke15ETD NOV
Burundi Honey Process Masha30ETD NOV
Burundi Gatara Masha85ETD NOV
Burundi Peaberry30ETD NOV
Rwanda Rulindo Tumba 140ETA 11/1
Rwanda Nyamasheke Gitwe35ETA 11/1
Rwanda Rusizi Mushaka35ETA 11/1
Rwanda Nyamasheke Mutovu35ETA 11/1
Rwanda Nyamasheke Nyungwe50ETA 11/1
Rwanda Karongi Gitesi35ETA 11/1
Rwanda Dry Process Kivu Kageyo10ETA 11/1
Rwanda Kivu Kageyo25ETA 11/1
Rwanda Dry Process Tumba10ETA 11/1
Rwanda Nyamasheke Peaberry45ETA 11/1
Rwanda Rulindo Tumba 246ETA 11/1
Rwanda Dry Process Nyamiyaga30ETD OCT
Rwanda Dry Process Macuba40ETD OCT
Rwanda Honey Process Kibirizi40ETD OCT
Rwanda Rutsiro Mushonyi30ETD OCT
Rwanda Nyamasheke Karambi30ETD OCT
Rwanda Buliza30ETD OCT
Rwanda Nkora30ETD OCT
Rwanda Anaerobic Karambi20ETD OCT
Rwanda Honey Process Karambi40ETD OCT
Zambia Kateshi Estate15TBD

South America Incoming Coffees

CoffeesBagsETA
Colombia Inzá Vereda Belén33ETA 11/1
Colombia Nariño Buesaco31ETA 11/1
Colombia Inzá Veredas Vecinas49ETA 11/1
Colombia Inzá Río Páez23ETA 11/1
Colombia Inzá Gonzalo Lizcano5ETA 11/1
Colombia Inzá Vereda San Antonio12ETA 11/1
Colombia Honey Aponte El Páramo16ETA 11/1
Colombia Honey Sigifredo Janamejoy11ETA 11/1
Colombia Honey Hugo Agreda11ETA 11/1
Colombia Buesaco Río Juanambú17ETA 11/1
Colombia Urrao – Inzá Chiroso10ETA 11/1
Colombia Caicedo Rubén Darío Gómez10ETA 11/1
Colombia Tolima China Alta34ETA 11/1
Colombia Edward Sandoval Wush Wush5ETA 11/1
Colombia Edward Sandoval Chiroso12ETA 11/1
Colombia Edward Sandoval Gesha5ETA 11/1
Brazil Sítio da Pedra59ETD OCT
Brazil Sítio Três Barras24ETD OCT
Brazil Condado São José37ETD OCT
Brazil Fazenda Doña Maria Christina10ETD OCT
Brazil Stio Serra dos Borges24ETD OCT
Brazil Doña Maria Dorotéia33ETD OCT
Brazil São José Farm58ETD OCT
Brazil Carlos Henrique Santa Rita de Cássia35ETD OCT
Brazil São Joaquim Farm40ETD OCT
Brazil Winicius Baquião Dutra10ETD OCT
Brazil Dalila Vasconcelos7ETD OCT
Brazil Flávio Caixeta Nunes32ETD OCT
Brazil Amarildo José Borges32ETD OCT
Brazil Reinaldo Gomes da Cunha35ETD OCT
Brazil Canastra Luis Otavio35ETD OCT
Brazil Carmo de Minas Santa Lucia63ETD OCT
Brazil Dry Process Fazenda Sertao20ETD OCT
Brazil Dry Process Santa Ines49ETD OCT
Brazil Dry Process Fazenda IP100ETD OCT
Brazil Pulp Natural Fazenda IP50ETD OCT
Brazil Pedra Branca Furnas43ETD OCT

Indonesia & SE Asia & Oceania Incoming Coffees

CoffeesBagsETA
Java Sunda Puncak Sirna Anaerobic Honey50ETD OCT
Java Sunda Siki Alit Washed40ETD OCT
Flores Om David Washed10ETD OCT
Flores Tanta Reti Washed10ETD OCT
Java Sunda Garut Honey Robusta10ETD OCT
Java Sunda Bukit Paniisan Anaerobic Honey50ETD OCT
Java Sunda Siki Alit Wet Hulled40ETD OCT
Flores Wolo Wio Washed15ETD OCT
Flores Turelelo Wet Hulled15ETD OCT
Flores Turelelo Anaerobic Honey20ETD OCT
Sulawesi Seko Wet Hulled20ETD OCT
Sulawesi Kahayya Washed30ETD OCT
Sulawesi Topidi Natural10ETD OCT

19 Responses

  1. Your article on coffee harvesting in Brazil was very enlightening! While many of us are aware that coffee harvesting in Brazil is mechanized, you gave us the hows and whys with video. Thank you.
    I also appreciate the “Green Coffee Outlook” information. The scope of your work and supply chain management just blows me away.
    One question. When will you again offer the New Classic Espresso blend? I’m looking to order 5 lbs. when it becomes available. My wife and I start every day with triple lattes and the New Classic is our favorite cup. Thanks again for all you do for the coffee community. Tom Martin, Fountain Valley, CA

    1. Hey Tom, glad you’re finding the Outlooks informative! While we’ve been working to publish one every other months, you can expect another to follow in November that goes over what coffees to expect for the holidays.

      New Classic is available on the site (link HERE). We try to keep this one going year round!

      Cheers,
      Dan

  2. Really appreciate the coffee outlook, helpful for the purpose of planning especially you providing the bag quantity and ETA dates. Have been customer for over 15 years from home roasting to small town local roaster, and can honestly say have never had a sub quality bean from Sweet Marie’s, you take the guess work out bean selection process.
    Thank You!

    1. Hey Kent, that’s so nice to hear! It warms our hearts knowing we’ve played a part of your roasting journey.

      All the best,
      Dan

  3. Dan, I always look forward to these reports. I appreciate all the hard work you all do to discover and deliver great coffee for us home roasters. What is the status of Buno Dambi Uddo? It was listed in the July outlook but I didn’t see it listed anywhere here. I am hoping to see it soon!

    1. Hey Todd, thanks for the kind words! Dambi Uddo is scheduled for 3rd week of November at this point (11/20). While the timing is subject to change based on holiday rush, we should be able to keep to the schedule.

      Thanks again!

      Dan

  4. Hello!!! Thank you for all you do for the home roaster. 90% of my green coffee is from you guys. I was told Ethiopia Hambela Goro has landed. Any updates on when it will released?

  5. I also want to thank everyone at Sweet Maria’s for their dedication to coffee and culture world wide. As Tom said earlier, the information on Brazilian harvesting techniques was so insightful. It really shows what makes Sweet Maria’s special IMHO; a bit of humility and pathos enlarging our understanding of a complex world.

    I’ve never had to look hard for great green coffee to roast since I found Sweet Maria’s. I actually got my younger sister roasting her own beans within the last year or so. I found 15 pounds of green beans I’d squirreled away and forgot about and offered them to her since she sold her home in Louisiana and moved back to Massachusetts. We both roast “cowboy” style with poppers. I don’t think I’ll ever use anything else. I can manage around 13 ounces per roast which is enough for the wife and I for the week. Keep up the great work, we appreciate you all!!!

  6. Just curious about Decafs, I know it’s a smaller market share, but to those of us who have no choice in the matter: what is the status of new decafs? Especially interested in organic decafs.

    1. We have added several new ones in the last month including very nice Ethiopia, Guatemala and Brazil. Many of our decafs are grown organic but we don’t have any certified ones now. For example we know the Ethiopia is grown without any chemical inputs at all, but it has to have the paperwork and be imported without any chemical organic certificate to have that in the name. And if we import a container with a verified organic but the other lots are not certified, nothing can be called organic. So there’s technicalities that really have nothing to do with how the Coffee‘s grown. It’s paperwork.

    2. Hi Lee, we have a few more decafs on deck, so I’m glad you asked. We have a new lot of our Central America blend (“Cordillera Central”) going up mid-November, and I’m hoping to get our Sidama Ethiopia blend up by the end of the month. And you’re right, the demand limits the amount we can offer to a great extent. We wish we could have a little of ALL our coffees decaf’d! But the bag minimums for processing our own coffee create some limits on how many different lots we can have.

      -Dan

  7. I am interested in Ethiopians. I see five are available now. Are more Ethiopians expected in the next two or three months?

    1. Hi Brian! Yes, we have a washed Yirga Cheffe and natural Kaffa going up this week (Wednesday/Friday respectively). We have at least two more Ethiopia’s scheduled before the end of the year too, and will keep rolling them out in the new year.

      Best,
      Dan

  8. I keep watching in hopes that the dry process Yrga Cheffe from Mengesha Farm I roasted back in 2022 will come back. That was the best danged stuff ever. Please tell me it’s not lost for good.

    1. Hi Matt, no Mengesha this year. What stood out to me about that dry process was its aroma. I remember it being distinctly floral, which isn’t something that often comes through in naturals. I think a really nice replacement would be this year’s Dry Process Korate. While technically a Guji coffee, these two stations only have about 20 miles between them, so no surprise we find similar flavors.

      Hope that helps. Maybe we’ll see nice offers from Mengesha this year.

      Best,
      Dan

  9. Hey, Dan. I bet you are busting at the seems with all the new coffee arrivals. That being said, I’m impatiently inquiring about the next outlook. Sorry to be that guy but I really look forward to these Outlooks. Keep up the great work! Happy Christmas ti everyone at Sweet Maria’s.

    Just fyi, I recently purchased the automatic hand grinder you all recently revealed and it is awesome. That’s a great find!

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