Brazil

After slavery was abolished in 1888, families from Prussia, Pomerania, and Italy arrived here in search of a future. In 1912, just two decades after Canephora was first documented based on samples from today’s Democratic Republic of Congo, seedlings reached their remote farms via Rio de Janeiro. They called the plants “Conilon,” a local evolution of “Kouillou.” The plants, directly descended from Kwilu, found space and isolation — enough to develop their own character, shaped by the hands and seasons of these new farmers.

From the 1960s onward, the region saw growing investment in agricultural research. By the early 2000s, Espírito Santo had become a center for development in Canephora: Since 2012, most of the globally published studies on the species come from here, as well as many of the new varieties now grown across the world — known for their productivity, resistance to cold, high caffeine content, and surprising quality in the cup.

BMP Farmers, our partners in the region, are part of the next generation. The company was founded by four sons of farming families who grew up with coffee and know the people behind every lot. They work directly with producers — many of them smallholders by Brazilian standards — and help bring both their Arabica and Canephora coffees to roasters across the globe.

This coffee tells a story of resilience, migration, and transformation — from the banks of the Kwilu to the hills of Espírito Santo. It carries the depth of a century’s work, its African origin, and the energy of fusing European-African-American Brazilians shaping its future.