When Sheyla Veloso Heitor and her husband Manuel Heitor acquired their 114-hectare farm Colonia Agricola in 1994, it was dedicated entirely to livestock, with no vegetation at all. After years of work, the farm has reconstituted its Permanent Preservation Areas and a Legal Reserve, acting as a reference for other regional projects of a similar scope. In 2009 they started “Tree Day.” Inviting students to learn about and experience the farm, build awareness of the importance of preserving natural resources, and ending the day with the students planting native trees.
Sheyla Veloso Heitor is part of the Expocaccer coffee cooperative, which represents more than 650 small and medium coffee producers in Cerrado Mineiro. In 2017 they started their quality auction with the Expocaccer Treasures. Mercon Specialty is happy to have the opportunity to continue to support the producers of this region with excellent microlots through this program.
This lot, placing 2nd in the Expocaccer Treasures auction, was harvested mechanically and then floated to remove underripes and defects. Then the cherries were placed in individual 200-liter containers, where artisan yeast was added and the cherries soaked for 120 hours in a semi-hermetic environment. After 120 hours, the coffee was removed to clean water to stop the fermentation. And was taken to raised beds to dry for 10 days, until reaching 17% moisture. The cherries were then put back into the containers for another 7 days. Finally, they were removed and dried on a patio until reaching 11.5% moisture and removed to the granary to rest for 40 days.
