There are three main coffee growing areas in Brazil: Mogiana, Sul Minas and Cerrado. These areas feature moderate sunlight and rain. The temperatures are steady year-round, ideal to grow Arabica and Robusta coffee trees. Arabica accounts for about 70% of total harvest. Robusta, a hardier plant that produces lower quality beans makes up the remaining 30%.

The Mogiana region: This is the area along the border of São Paulo and Minas Gerais states north of São Paulo. The Mogiana coffee region is named after the Companhia Mogiana Estrada de Ferro train line that ran through this area when trains . . . → Read More: Brazil’s Coffee Regions

When not suffering catastrophic frosts, Brazil produces 30 to 35 percent of the world’s coffee. Vast plantations of millions of trees cover the hills of south-central Brazil. For the commercial coffee industry, Brazil is of supreme importance, a giant in every respect, but for the specialty-coffee trade, it shrinks to something smaller than El Salvador. Despite all the coffee produced in Brazil, none ranks close to the world’s best. The Brazilian coffee industry has concentrated from the beginning on producing “price” coffees: cheap, fairly palatable, but hardly distinguished.

Of the many market names for Brazilian coffee, only one, Santos, . . . → Read More: Brazil’s best coffee: Bourbon Santos

Coffee shops in São Paulo are selling coffees produced by their own estates. One could say that growers’ families are actually opening coffee stores in the city. The trend is more and more visible due to value addition in sales of the finished product (by the cup) rather than of green coffee (by the bag). Suplicy Café is one of the examples with its Minas Gerais’ Santa Izabel Estate now supplying 60% of all the coffee sourced by the shop. The entire line of coffee beverages prepared at Octavio Café, part of the Octavio group that owns Dallis Coffee . . . → Read More: Coffee shop sells coffee from own farm

Over the last five years, economical stability and higher wages in Brazil favored the ascension of more than 20 million people from the lower social classes to the middle class. The “new middle class”, as it is being referred to, already accounts for 49% of the total population, or 95 million Brazilians. According to the renowned Getúlio Vargas Foundation, an average middle class family has a monthly income between US$ 650 and US$ 2,700. With more available money and more access to credit, this new middle class represents a group with specific socialcultural characteristics that have already begun to . . . → Read More: Coffee consumption patterns in Brazil

In the same day that Sara Lee launched its Senseo coffee machine in Brazil, Nestlé, owner of Nespresso and Nescafé Dolce Gusto, announced a 16.6% price reduction in its less expensive coffee makers. Nestle also introduced a loyalty program for Dolce Gusto consumers. Other single-serve brands, such as DeLonghi and Illy, have also dropped their machine prices by 15 to 20% in Brazil. Sara Lee is expected to become Nestlé’s main competitor in the Brazilian single-serve segment. Source: Valor Econômico

American company Sara Lee has been a coffee market leader in Brazil since 2000 when it acquired the popular Pilão and Caboclo brands. This leadership is now threatened by 3 Corações, the merger of Santa Clara and Israeli Strauss-Elite, whose 18.1% market share is coming closer to Sara Lee’s 20.9%, according to Nielsen. Latin-Panel, another research institute, claims that 3 Corações is already ahead with 20.3% of the market against Sara Lee’s 18.6%. Some of the reasons behind this amazing performance are 3 Corações / Santa Clara’s strong presence in the Northeast region of Brazil, one of the most . . . → Read More: Brazil coffee market leader: 3 Corações