Fazenda Arema, Brazil

Our latest partnership with the youngest farm until today. Fazenda Arema is just over 4 years old and is managed by a passionate Belgian lady called Martine and her equally driven Brazilian husband Euller. When they entered our shop last year with their hands literally full of greens beans we immediately felt the love and passion they brought along with them. We were struck by their drive to produce delightful coffees in the cerrado region in a way that we at Onan genuinely  appreciate: specialty coffee produced with heart and soul, correctly, and striving for ways to grow and innovate together with everybody involved in the production process. Meanwhile we got our very first crop of this remarkable cerrado pearl variety, transported straight to our Leuven roastery by Martine and Euller themselves!

Football, dance moves and coffee

In his teens Euller was a very talented football player. Being a professional in Brazil he was sent to Belgium to train and was well on his way to become a world famous  player. But after a serious injury, it soon became clear that a future in professional football would no longer be written in the stars… While pondering about what life would have in store for him, Euller decided to go out dancing one night, literally bumping into the love of his life, Martine! The attractive black-eyed Belgian immediately stole his heart and after a while they  decided that moving back to Euller’s home town of Santa Rosa da Serra would be the perfect location for them to combine not only their own love but also their love for coffee and the close knit community In Santa Rita.

Plants and coffee beds

As the son and grandson of a coffee producer, Euller now proudly continues the craft of managing the farm together with Martine. The past few years they worked hard on the vast plantation, creating new fields, growing new coffee plants, setting out young plants into the fields and providing them with all the necessary care that comes along with growing fine arabicas. New processing methods such as ‘pulped natural’ on raised beds were implemented and in 2019 they even took transport into their own hands, delivering their very first crop directly to our shop!

Cerrado region

The Cerrado Mineiro Region is a world recognized high quality coffee producing origin – the first “Designation of Origin” in Brazil, located in northwest of Minas Gerais State.

Having well-defined seasons – a hot, wet summer and a pleasantly dry winter – is a strong characteristic of the region. The coffee plantations are cultivated in areas with altitudes varying between 800 and 1,300 meters, the result being high quality coffees with a unique identity.

Martine and Euller Fazenda Arema@Onan