It’s Time to Plan for Brazil!

Next month, MCM is heading to Brazil! We’re thrilled to get back on the road, to visit our supply partners and select coffees from the current harvest. Before we head off, we want to hear from you to help us build our buying brief and accurately plan for the 2024 season.

Published 06 Aug 2024

Next month, Beau and Toshi will travel to Brazil for what is one of our most important sourcing trips of the year. With many Australian roasters relying on a consistent supply of delicious, well-structured and long-lasting Brazilian coffees for their espresso blends, making sure our Brazilian containers are shipped in a timely manner is key to our business. Our supply partners Silvio Leite and Fabiano Borré understand these requirements and have been keeping us informed on how the harvest is progressing in the Chapada Diamantina region, ensuring we hit the ground running the moment we land in the country. 

This year’s harvest comes with some challenges for the Borré family’s estate, Fazenda Progresso, and for many of the small holder farmers in and around the region of Piatã, who we are connected to through Silvio. While the season is advancing at a good pace now, it began later than in other regions and is forecasted to produce lower yields than in 2023. The recent surge in the global price of green coffee has not provided much relief, with most of the potential gains being negated by a rise in labour costs, due to staff shortages in the region.  

Despite these concerns, quality remains as high as ever, and production at estates with more recently planted trees (like Silvio’s farm, Cerca de Pedras), or those that have been recently renovated (like Kleumon Moreiera’s Sítio Canaã) remain healthy and abundant, promising a steady crop this year and a more bountiful one in 2025. And while pricing may be higher than in previous years — correlated to a high C-price and increased cost of production — our long-standing, mutually beneficial relationships with the Borré family and Silvio, give MCM a favourable position to secure high-quality and fully traceable lots that offer exceptional value in the current market.

We’re looking forward to a fun and productive time on the ground. Our first stop is Fazenda Progresso, where we’ll cup and select our natural and pulped natural value lines, along with microlots Airumá, Sincorá and crowd favourite Gandula. We’ll also spend time with our treasured friends and producing partners in the small town of Piatã, including Antonio and Terezinha Rigno (of São Judas Tadeu), Pedro and Delzute Santana (of Cafundó) and of course, Kleumon and Silvio. We can’t wait to catch up and drink coffee together again! 

When cupping we’ll focus on finding clean and consistent high-volume lots that represent excellent value for blending lines. We’re also on the hunt for distinct, stand out microlots that showcase the regions where they were grown, and shine as either espresso or filter offerings. The shipments containing these coffees will be landing from the month of November through to March.

With just a few short weeks to prepare for the trip, we’re keen to hear from you regarding your Brazilian requirements! With a low-yielding harvest this year, it’s critical to build and communicate an accurate brief to our supply partners, to ensure availability of our required volume. Over the next few days, we’ll be contacting customers who regularly purchase large Brazilian volume lines through MCM. If you’re keen to hear from us and book a planning session to discuss your needs, simply reach out via the button below.