Stefano was born in Seoul, the capital and largest city of South Korea. In 1976, he came to Brazil with his parents and siblings after the war. His father was an English teacher and, because of his profession, met some high-ranking Brazilian military personnel, which convinced him to immigrate to Brazil with his entire family, wife and five children. They moved to São Paulo, more precisely to the neighborhood of Liberdade, known as a famous Asian neighborhood in the city of São Paulo. Stefano remembers the time he arrived in São Paulo: "At the age of 12 it was all new, but it was a culture shock, mainly because of the language, but my people adapted well here," he says proudly.

He met his wife, also a Korean immigrant, with whom he had two Brazilian children: Boram and Garam. Graduated in business administration, he has always worked in the electronics sales sector. In 2004, he had the opportunity to receive a scholarship from Samsung in Brazil, the company's plans for Brazil included the construction of a factory. He chose the city of Varginha to implement the Samsung factory, not knowing that Varginha is one of the largest coffee exporting cities in the country. There, he met well-known producers and exporters, from whom he learned more about the coffee market. The owner of one of these companies invited Stefano to a partnership whose goal was to export green coffee beans as a commodity to other countries. From this point, the story of family One in relation to specialty coffees begins.

In 2010, he began to research and study specialty coffees and realized that the market was very interested in investing in quality coffees. The following year, he decided to plant varieties of specialty coffees on his farm. Fazenda Um Bought the farm Um, a farm in the south of Minas Gerais, in São Gonçalo do Sapucaí. "I started planting coffee in 2012 and never stopped," he said.

"I have already planted more than 48,2018 coffee plants in <>. Our planting is a little different, we plant in shady areas and the post-harvest work is the same as in Guatemala."

Fazenda Um has an average altitude of 900 to 1,300 meters, producing, in all, eight varieties of coffee. Today it has farms in the southern region of Minas Gerais and also Caparaó in Espírito Santo.



A Coffee Co.

While working on the coffee plantations, his children grew up: Boram graduated in engineering from Mauá College and Garam in finance in Boston (USA). When Garam returned to Brazil, the brothers immersed themselves in the world of specialty coffees and started the international courses of roasting and barista Q Grader and in 2015, opened Um Coffee Co.

It is the brothers who manage the cafeteria and the roasting process, which is carried out in the café itself. "We chose the neighborhood of Bom Retiro, for the need to optimize costs, it turned out to be a sure shot. Currently, the coffee shop is recognized as one of the best in the country."