Producer Profile: Felipe Croce
In 2011 our Australian roaster Heath and NZ roaster Fraser embarked on a trip to Brazil to visit some producers we source coffee from. Part of the trip involved meeting and starting a relationship with Fazenda Ambiental Fortaleza (FAF). FAF is a family owned Fazenda (estate) and run by the Barretto family since the early 1900s. Since 2002, Silvia Barretto and her husband, Marcos Croce, have been working on transforming the farm into a model of sustainable organic agriculture, or, demonstrating how agriculture in Brazil can be productive and profitable while providing a happier living environment through the proper use of the land’s natural resources.
Their son Felipe has been involved with the farm for the last 4-5 years and is very active not only on his farm but also within the group of partner farms that FAF work with. Felipe is continually driving forward quality and new ideas as well as taking their model of farming to the wider community. During the off season Felipe takes time to travel and visit roasters that buy their coffee. this allows him to see where their product ends up, how it’s being roasted and finally being drunk. He is an amazing cupper and roaster and offers great knowledge in getting the best from their coffee.
We had the great pleasure of Felipe coming to visit us here in Wellington in April. The Melbourne team got to see a lot more of Felipe while he was working in Melbourne for Seven Seeds and Silo. Felipe gave a very interesting and insightful presentation to an audience or Roasters, Baristas and interested public, at Silo one evening and I got to spend a few minutes with him Prior to have a chat.
One of the coffees FAF produce, The Bob-O-Link, is the star coffee within our Brazil Blend and is also offered as a single through our locations. We look forward to continuing the the relationship with we have with FAF and bringing you their fantastic coffee.