More than a century ago, thousands of Italians came to Brazil to work on coffee plantations in the Southeast.
And today, 150 years after the beginning of this mass immigration, it is up to an Italian descendant the task of producing one of the most prized grains in the country.
Daniella Romano Pelosini runs Sítio Daniella, in Pardinho, 220 km from São Paulo, and has been supplying the Italian company for almost a decade illycaffe, its only client abroad. “Apart from illy, my coffee is all in Brazil. I want Brazilians to drink coffee, I don’t have an export radar”, said the coffee grower during a visit by journalists to her 55-hectare farm, which houses more than 200 coffee plants and generates 1,5 to 2 bags. per year.
Part of this production – between 100 and 120 bags annually – is destined for illy, which purchases more than half of the grains used in its blend on Brazilian soil.
The relationship between the site and the Trieste brand began about a decade ago, when Daniella met Aldir Alves Teixeira, the Italian company's guru when it comes to quality, during an edition of the International Coffee Week. “We went to the illy stand and we take a sample. Doctor Aldir looked at it and said: 'I want your coffee next year'”, she said.
But the partnership was not immediate: Daniella took care of the coffee and sent a sample to Illy the following year, but the beans ended up being rejected due to excess moisture. The coffee farmer was “very angry” with the refusal, but she accepted and returned to work a year later. The result was first place in São Paulo and second in Brazil in the 25th Ernesto Illy Award for Sustainable Coffee Quality for Espresso, in 2016.
Since then, the site has frequently been among the best in the country in the awards. “Winning the prize is easy, the difficult part is repeating the result”, said Daniella, a descendant of Italians from Naples (Romano) and Lucca (Pelosini) – in her first meeting with President Andrea Illy, she served a dish typically 'made in Italy': polenta with chicken.
Established in the pantheon of Brazilian coffee growers, Daniella now faces the challenge of the climate crisis, which has already put cultivable areas around the world at risk. “For those who still talk about global warming, our harvest, before being mechanized, started in August; Then it started to be in July with mechanization and, this year, we started on May 27th. Isn’t it changing?” she questioned.
Given this scenario, the farm focuses on regenerative agriculture, Andrea Illy's flagship and which promotes the recovery of the soil and the surrounding environment to guarantee its long-term viability. Daniella even plans to implement streets of trees amid the planting from December onwards to diversify the local ecosystem. “I want to be a model in the region to take this to other farms,” she explained.
The site is also self-sufficient in energy thanks to photovoltaic panels and passes the surplus onto the grid, in addition to using agrochemicals “very carefully” to align with the precepts of regenerative agriculture. (HANDLE)
