Producing coffee since the beginning of the 20th century, the generations of the Frota family have perfected their coffee cultivation techniques year after year. Bom Jardim originally covered 500ha in the sub-region of Varginha in Southern Minas Gerais. With different life plans through the years, the inheritors that eventually decided to continue the family’s farming legacy were left with less than half the land.
Today, the administration of Bom Jardim is in the hands of Eloise Frota, who inherited the farm in 1998 and has since made innumerable improvements in processes to manage quality coffee production. Eloíse is a Professor of Mathematics and a Plastic Artist and dedicates incalculable hours the art of coffee farming. For every crop, Eloíse aims to find the best strategy of planting, with the right mapping, correction of the land and soil, and concern with the most adequate insolation. Agronomist engineers help her by accompanying the crops to ensure the health and productivity of trees, always striving for excellence and quality.
Her daughter, Cecilia, and her son, Francisco, started a parallel roasting project for their mother’s coffees. They call it Café D’Eloíse, a project that reflects the new phase in Brazil’s coffee consumption that can be noticed mainly in larger cities, with great coffees being offered from artesian roasters. With Eloise in the driver seat of the farm, and a couple of generations seem to be following her path. Any spare time she has with her grandchildren, you will find them playing in the middle of the coffee trees and patios.
The future is bright for Fazenda Bom Jardim.
- Cultivars produced: Acaiá; Mundo Novo
- Altitude: 850 – 1,200m