Black farmers in Brazil changing views on coffee production

Black farmers in Brazil changing views on coffee production

Many in Brazil still associate coffee production with slavery
Many in Brazil still associate coffee production with slavery. Photo: Douglas Magno / AFP
Source: AFP

PAY ATTENTION: Let yourself be inspired by real people who go beyond the ordinary! Subscribe and watch our new shows on Briefly TV Life now!

Raphael Brandao beams with pride as he describes the high-end Brazilian coffee he produces with beans sourced exclusively from Black farmers in a country where many still associate the product with slavery.

The 31-year-old buys his coffee beans solely from farms owned by Afro-descendents and says his goal is to "reverse this logic that Black people" like himself "are mere laborers."

"In my own way, I am trying to make historical reparations," Brandao told AFP at his roastery in Nova Iguacu, a poor suburb of Rio de Janeiro.

Four years ago, he launched his brand Cafe di Preto.

By 2022 he sold 800 kilograms (about 1,700 pounds), the following year 1.4 tons. This year he hopes to increase that to more than two tons following a 20-percent sales increase in the first quarter alone.

Read also

Forever fad: Rubik says his cube 'reminds us why we have hands'

The logo for Cafe di Preto is a raised Black fist clutching a coffee branch, and the different flavor lines are each named after important Black women of Brazilian history.

Brazil was the last country in the Americas to abolish slavery, in 1888, and racial inequalities remain high in a country where more than half of people identify as "preto" (Black) or mixed-race.

'Changing the world'

Raphael Brandao produces with beans sourced exclusively from Black farmers
Raphael Brandao produces with beans sourced exclusively from Black farmers. Photo: Douglas Magno / AFP
Source: AFP

Through his endeavors, Brandao told AFP he wants to remind the world that Brazil became a leading coffee producer

on the back of slaves from Africa, where coffee originates from.

He is also seeking to "break the stigma that Black people do not produce quality."

"So my work also gives light to this," he said. "Today I have six coffees produced by Black people, all of them... of great quality."

Read also

'Maldives what?': Saudi fashionistas attempt beach rebrand

Many of his clients, he added, are looking for quality but also for a product that is "changing the world."

Brandao is a leader in the so-called Black Business wave in Brazil that promotes commerce among people of African descent as a tool for social progress.

The logo for Cafe di Preto is a raised Black fist clutching a coffee branch
The logo for Cafe di Preto is a raised Black fist clutching a coffee branch. Photo: MAURO PIMENTEL / AFP
Source: AFP

At first, he had trouble finding Black suppliers given that the overwhelming majority of coffee plantations in Brazil still belong to white families.

"My black suppliers are the first generation to produce on their own land, often only a few hectares," he said.

And Brandao has more than once had to defend his chosen crusade.

"I am sometimes asked: 'What if it was the opposite, if roasteries owned by whites bought coffee from white farmers?' But isn't that what is happening already?"

From farm to cup

About 500 kilometers (311 miles) from Nova Iguacu is the 19-hectare (47-acre) coffee plantation of Neide Peixoto, one of Brandao's first suppliers.

Read also

Iraq father begins legal action against BP over son's cancer death

Unlike her parents, Neide Peixoto grows coffee on land that belongs to her own family, bought by her husband and brothers who are also former laborers
Unlike her parents, Neide Peixoto grows coffee on land that belongs to her own family, bought by her husband and brothers who are also former laborers. Photo: Douglas Magno / AFP
Source: AFP

"I have been in contact with coffee since childhood. My parents worked in crops and I often accompanied them," Peixoto, 49, told AFP on her farm in the southeastern state of Minas Gerais, a mecca for coffee production.

Unlike her parents, she grows coffee on land that belongs to her own family, bought by her husband and brothers who are also former laborers.

"It means a lot to me to be a Black producer of special coffee, because... we, Black people have a very difficult and painful history," Peixoto said.

Most of the farm's production is for export, but the beans reserved for Cafe di Preto have a special significance for Peixoto.

"It's exciting to know that the coffee I produce, which is coffee produced by Black people, is also roasted by Black people," she said.

"I'm very happy to know that we are making this connection, from production here on the farm to the cup."

PAY ATTENTION: Сheck out news that is picked exactly for YOU - click on “Recommended for you” and enjoy!

Source: AFP

Authors:
AFP avatar

AFP AFP text, photo, graphic, audio or video material shall not be published, broadcast, rewritten for broadcast or publication or redistributed directly or indirectly in any medium. AFP news material may not be stored in whole or in part in a computer or otherwise except for personal and non-commercial use. AFP will not be held liable for any delays, inaccuracies, errors or omissions in any AFP news material or in transmission or delivery of all or any part thereof or for any damages whatsoever. As a newswire service, AFP does not obtain releases from subjects, individuals, groups or entities contained in its photographs, videos, graphics or quoted in its texts. Further, no clearance is obtained from the owners of any trademarks or copyrighted materials whose marks and materials are included in AFP material. Therefore you will be solely responsible for obtaining any and all necessary releases from whatever individuals and/or entities necessary for any uses of AFP material.