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Filter Stories - Coffee Documentaries · May 19, 2025 · 29 min

Science: The hard business of selling beautiful coffee, Pt 1

Volume. Cheap. Lame flavours. This is the traditional way of growing coffee in Brazil, and almost every farm does it this way. But what if you wanted to produce beautiful, distinctive flavours instead—and make a living from it? In this episode, we travel to Fazenda Paraíso in Minas Gerais, Brazil, where farmer Vicente Pereira and his daughter are on a steep learning curve finding buyers for their beautiful coffees. Part 1 unravels the hidden structures of Brazil’s coffee industry: how prices are set, why it’s so hard to create a specialty-focused farm, and why Vicente's farm is unsustainable if he sells his coffee the traditional way. Behind every beautiful coffee is a family story like this, but it’s a story we rarely get to see close up. Let’s take a closer look. Please spread the word about The Science of Coffee! Leave a 5 star rating on Spotify Follow me on Instagram and tag me in an Instagram story Write a review on Apple Podcasts Discover how I make these Filter Stories episodes by subscribing to my Substack newsletter Source your next lot of specialty green coffee on Algrano Listen to Firefly to hear a cautionary tale about a specialty farm failing because they couldn't find the right buyers. Try Fazenda Paraiso's and Sancoffee's coffees for yourself! Season 3 of The Science of Coffee is made possible by these leading coffee organizations: The Coffee Quest | BWT | TODDY | Algrano | Probat Check out Standart, the award-winning coffee magazine. Get a free magazine and a free bag of coffee by clicking here. Use ProfilePrint to find the coffee your customers loved last year (without a week of cupping!). Use promo code "FILTER" to get 10% off your first year of a Mini Beluga subscription. Click here to discover ProfilePrint's many uses. Support hundreds of thousands of coffee farmers with Fairtrade. Discover how here. Office coffee = easy recurring revenue. WMF’s Elevation 10 and Peak 50 do the work for you. Learn more here. What kind of racing car does the Gaggia Classic GT home espresso machine remind you of? Use discount code FS202610 to get 10% off.

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transcript

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show notes

Volume. Cheap. Lame flavours. This is the traditional way of growing coffee in Brazil, and almost every farm does it this way. 

 

But what if you wanted to produce beautiful, distinctive flavours instead—and make a living from it?

 

In this episode, we travel to Fazenda Paraíso in Minas Gerais, Brazil, where farmer Vicente Pereira and his daughter are on a steep learning curve finding buyers for their beautiful coffees. 

 

Part 1 unravels the hidden structures of Brazil’s coffee industry: how prices are set, why it’s so hard to create a specialty-focused farm, and why Vicente's farm is unsustainable if he sells his coffee the traditional way. 

 

Behind every beautiful coffee is a family story like this, but it’s a story we rarely get to see close up. 

 

Let’s take a closer look.

 

 

Please spread the word about The Science of Coffee!

Leave a 5 star rating on Spotify
Follow me on Instagram and tag me in an Instagram story
Write a review on Apple Podcasts

Discover how I make these Filter Stories episodes by subscribing to my Substack newsletter

 

Source your next lot of specialty green coffee on Algrano

 

Listen to Firefly to hear a cautionary tale about a specialty farm failing because they couldn't find the right buyers.

 

Try Fazenda Paraiso's and Sancoffee's coffees for yourself!

 

Season 3 of The Science of Coffee is made possible by these leading coffee organizations:

 

The Coffee Quest | BWT | TODDY | Algrano | Probat


Check out Standart, the award-winning coffee magazine. Get a free magazine and a free bag of coffee by clicking here.

Use ProfilePrint to find the coffee your customers loved last year (without a week of cupping!). Use promo code "FILTER" to get 10% off your first year of a Mini Beluga subscription. Click here to discover ProfilePrint's many uses. 

Support hundreds of thousands of coffee farmers with Fairtrade. Discover how here

Office coffee = easy recurring revenue. WMF’s Elevation 10 and Peak 50 do the work for you. Learn more here
 
What kind of racing car does the Gaggia Classic GT home espresso machine remind you of? Use discount code FS202610 to get 10% off. 

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