Santa Mariana - PR
Palmeira Farm
In 1922 Max Wirth, a Swiss industrialist, sold the weaving mill and immigrated to Brazil with his 7 children. He settled in the interior of the State of São Paulo, near Lins, already with the idea of planting coffee.
In 1942 he acquired a plot of 2,500 hectares in the municipality of Santa Mariana, because he heard that the lands of the North of Paraná were very fertile. Early on, he transformed a part of the forests into cotton crops with the aim of planting coffee in the sequence. Over the years, Swiss carpenters and joiners have built the facilities for drying, processing and storing coffee. In 1970 it was divided between the sons Peter and Emil Wirth which gave rise to the Palmeira and Figueira Farms.
In 1987, Dona Cornélia and her husband Norbert took over the management of the farm and in 1990 they moved, and today, in the 1,200 hectares of Fazenda Palmeira they produce coffee, soybeans, corn and oats, raise Nelore cattle and 21% of the area is composed of preserved native forests. The farm continues to be run by the family, already in the third generation.
The 180 hectares of coffee are located at an altitude of 480 meters and latitude of 23.1 degrees, near the Tropic of Capricorn, which enables the production of specialty coffees.
The constant search for quality improvement, management efficiency and increased productivity, led to the achievement of good placements in coffee contests (among the finalists of Ficafé) and certifications such as Fair Trade, UTZ and 4C. Members of Cocenpp/Acenpp (Association and Cooperative of Specialty Coffees of the Pioneer North of Paraná). Within this search, they have the technical assistance of a specialist from Minas Gerais. They plant species with different maturations to be able to optimize the harvest to the maximum: Tupi, Catuaí red and yellow, Paraíso, IPR and Arara. The harvest is partially mechanized, but for specialty coffees, the harvest is manual.
For 7 years, the Palmeira farm has been part of the "Coffee Route", through which they receive groups of tourists, interested in knowing and experiencing the production of coffee, within the proposal of experience tourism.
Dona Cornelia and Norbert Gamerschlag
Palmeira Farm
Farm Facts
ADDRESS
Address line 1
Address line 1
Address line 1
TOTAL AREA
380 ha
210 ha (with coffee)
9,500 bags of coffee per year
ALTITUDE
Minimum: 950 m
Maximum: 1,180 m
Average: 1,065 m
PROCESS METHODS
Natural
Demucilaged (Semi-washed)
Washed
Pulped Natural Sun Dry
Natural Sun Dry
Pulped Natural
VARIETIES
Yellow Bourbon,
Yellow and Red Icatu,
Rubi,
Yellow and Red Catuaí,
Catiguá, Acaiá,
Novo Mundo, and
Topázio
Pioneer North of Paraná
Coffee Route
This region has ideal climatic conditions for the production of fine coffees, with average annual temperatures between 19 and 22° C, resulting from the combination of altitude (from 500 to 900 m) and latitude (23 and 24° S). This provides a longer period between flowering and the physiological maturation of the beans, allowing a more intense fixation of the attributes and providing excellent characterization of the beverage. There is also the fact that rainfall allows cultivation without irrigation, or with complementary irrigation, unlike other regions where irrigation is mandatory.