Maria Rosa´s family is dedicated entirely to coffee. Her eldest son, Robinson, has previously worked as a leader of the local growers’ association, as well as being a well-known coffee producer in his own right. Her younger, Nilson, has also inherited part of the family farm and is working to learn all about coffee. Doña Maria, even at the age of 58, still takes a hike up the mountain every day to organize pickers and schedule the work for the day. She is an impressive woman, a symbol of the female coffee farmer in Colombia, who often does not received as much recognition as their "Juan Valdez" counterpart.

Despite the small size of the farm, Maria and Antonio decided to plant three different varietals in the high hills upon which their land lies: Tabi, Typica and Caturra. The high altitude of their farm (2,000 metres above sea level) makes it possible to continue growing these more susceptible cultivars despite the dangers of coffee leaf rust. Nonetheless, preparing for the future, two years ago they replanted areas of old trees with the Castillo varietal, following incentives from the Colombia’s Coffee Growers’ Federation (FNC)

Fazenda Pedra Redonda lies between 1,050 to 1,320 metres above sea level in the green hills of Matas de Minas, a fertile, mountainous region in the south-east of Brazil’s Minas Gerais state. The area has a long history of producing coffees of excellent quality, thanks to its altitude (some 80% of farm area lies above 1,000 metres), temperate climate and fertile soils. 

José Bernardes Santana has been growing coffee in the region for more than 30 years. He runs Fazenda Pedra Redonda with the help of his two brothers, Donizete and Geraldo. Donizete oversees the coffee plantations, where a minimum of pesticides are used in order to protect the local ecosystem. The farm employs 30 permanent workers and all work is carried out by hand as the mountainous terrain makes the use of machines impossible. 

The farm’s workforce swells to between 80 and 100 people during harvest, all of whom are formally registered in accordance with Brazilian law. The coffee is picked by hand when the cherries are fully ripe. Pulped natural lots are then pulped immediately and moved onto the farm’s patios, where they are dried in the sun until they reach the optimum humidity level. Geraldo is responsible for overseeing coffee processing and quality control, and constantly strives to identify problems and improve quality.