Homero Paiva started his own coffee production in the same farm he grew up. He has decided to focus on specialty coffees and sustainable growing system. And to achieve these goals he has based himself on his family history, knowledge, a strongly engaged team and love. Nowadays, Fazenda Guariroba is certified by UTZ and Certifica Minas Café.

Based on Homero's belief, passion and hard work, he did a lot for the specialty coffee sector in Brazil and brought many to his side. Fernando is one of the founders of the Brazil Specialty Coffee Association and of Sancoffee. At the awards ceremony, when Henrique Cambraia, the current president of Sancoffee, received the first-place award on behalf of Homero Paiva, he said: “I would like to praise Mr. Fernando for having paved our way toward this amazing outcome.”

Fazenda Guariroba is a member of SanCoffee, which has a very distinctive business model. It involves a relationship platform to connect our growers to specialty coffee buyers around the world. Through Sancoffee, relationships are developed and strengthened. Coffees are prepared and exported direct from the origin. All our activities are guided by the importance we place on quality, consistency and transparency.

SanCoffee undertakes several projects in partnership with research institutes and universities toward continuous improvement in quality and consistency. The “Quality Mining and Learning Project” is always going around the coffee farms to: 1) look for the highest potential lots from among a wide range of varieties and coffee plantations; 2) motivate growers and their co-workers to keep the focus on specialty coffee; and, 3) teach them how to consistently produce high-quality coffees.

These efforts have been worth it. Fazenda Guariroba has won first place in the Naturals category, of Cup of Excellence and was a presidential winner, scoring above 90 points!