Custódio Theodoro Ribeiro de Carvalho acquired Fazenda do Rosário in 1896. After her death in the 1950s, Mariana de Carvalho Junqueira, her daughter, already married to Benedito Musa Junqueira (Didi), inherited the part, which later would be called Rancho São Benedito.

Along the land, Mariana inherited a love for coffee culture. Thus, times after the death of her husband, following the family tradition, she expanded the cultivation area and invested in equipment that provided increased productivity and improved quality of coffees. The matriarch, now 93 years old, still shows her interest in crops and dedication to coffee, with the drying of beans in the drying yards, her preference, always concerned with the quality of the drink.

Today, in the 5th generation of the family dedicated to coffee, the Rancho São Benedito Group is managed by Mariana's son, Márcio Heleno de Carvalho Junqueira, who, like his mother, increased the crop, conducting it with total dedication, competence and professionalism that current days demand.

The Rancho São Benedito Group, comprised of Rancho São Benedito, Fazenda Santa Mariana, Sítio Bela Vista, Sítio Vista Alegre and Sítio Serra dos Crioulos is located in the region of Mantiqueira de Minas, in the municipality of Dom Viçoso, South of Minas Gerais .

Its entire area is mountainous, with very fertile soils, a mild climate with defined seasons and an annual rainfall volume of 1,700 mm.

Crops were implanted in areas of altitude between 930 and 1,450 m.

The Rancho São Benedito Group has a washer, peeler, concrete drying patios, hanging terraces, vertical dryer for natural coffee, rotary dryer and specific bins for peeled cherry coffee.

It has twenty-one registered employees, a number that multiplies during the harvest. The property borders the city streets, where its employees have their own home, receive medical assistance, enjoy a leisure area and have access to public schools. All use personal protective equipment when necessary.

Harvesting is selective, and due to the rugged topography, it is done manually with the tip on the cloth. The harvested coffee is transported to the processing center two to three times a day, where it is washed and peeled with drinking water.

Then, the cherry beans are peeled, taken to concrete patios and suspended terraces and distributed in thin layers so that the qualities of the drink are not lost. Drying is done in the sun and in mechanical dryers.

The coffees of different varieties and plots are kept separately. After reaching the ideal drying, they are taken to resting bins lined with wood, where they remain for a few days, after which they are processed, bagged and stored for sale.

The Rancho São Benedito Group coffees are full-bodied and sweet, with good acidity and fruity and floral notes.

The Rancho São Benedito Group also maintains an area of ​​environmental preservation, where native plant species and wild animals are found. Water courses, riparian forests and springs on the property are protected.

With the increase in production, the farms have been modernizing, with the challenge of always producing coffees of excellent quality. The focus on quality has brought several awards, placing it among the most awarded farms in Brazil.

AWARDS:

BSCA - 25 awards since 2002, classified for the BSCA auction, being 2nd placed twice and finalist 30 times

Fair Trade - 2nd National and 2nd Regional

Illy Caffè - 2nd, 9th and 10th place, being finalists for 7 consecutive years

ABIC - 3rd place

EMATER - 2nd place in 2005 and among the 10 finalists in 2006, 2012 and 2019

COCARIVE - 8 awards among the top 10, being the 1st placed in 2012

Mantiqueira de Minas - 4 awards in the top 10

Florada Awarded - among the 22 finalists

AAA Sustainability Program - 2015, 2016, 2017

2011 Minas Gerais State Champion Illy Caffè

Featured Producer from Minas Gerais 2017

The farm maintained the creation of the Mangalarga Marchador horse, a passion that passed from father to children.

Today the Group also invests in rural and business tourism.

A walk that enchants with its natural beauty and knowledge of special coffees, at the lookout at 1,304m altitude, with a view of rare beauty, to the Mantiqueira mountains, coffee plantations and the small and peaceful Dom Viçoso, guided in an experience only by “Em Cantos do Café Especial”.

We often receive international tourists who are enchanted by our natural heritage and are surprised by the quality of the drink in our coffee.