In 1922, Max Wirth, a Swiss industrialist, sold his textile factory and immigrated to Brazil with his 7 children. He settled in the interior of São Paulo state, near Lins, already with the idea of planting coffee.

In 1942, he acquired a 2500-hectare plot of land in the municipality of Santa Mariana because he had heard that the lands in Northern Paraná were very fertile. Soon after, he transformed part of the forests into cotton fields, with the aim of planting coffee afterward. Over the years, Swiss carpenters and joiners built the facilities for drying, processing, and storing the coffee. In 1970, the land was divided between his sons, Peter and Emil Wirth, which led to the creation of the Palmeira and Figueira Farms.

In 1987, Dona Cornélia and her husband Norbert took over the farm’s management and moved there in 1990. Today, on the 1200 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 is still managed by the family, now in its third generation.

The 180 hectares of coffee are situated at an altitude of 480 meters and a latitude of 23.1 degrees, near the Tropic of Capricorn, which enables the production of specialty coffees.
The constant search for quality improvement, efficient management, and increased productivity has led to strong showings in coffee competitions (among the finalists of Ficafé) and