RIO DE JANEIRO – In recent years, an increase in coffee shops opening in Rio de Janeiro has led to an increase in the awareness of specialty coffee products in Brazil, where traditional brands such as Pilão, Melitta and Café do Ponto have dominated domestic consumption for decades, reports The Rio Times.
“Nespresso has transformed coffee into a jewel,” says coffee expert Emilio Rodrigues, of Casa do Barista in Santa Teresa , “the coffee capsules facilitate hygienic coffee consumption.”
“For new Brazilian customers, coffee shops are one of the main drivers of change in attitude [towards coffee], and expand drinking habits,” says Lucas Marangoni, from research firm Mintel. “This is because generally speaking, coffee shops are where most customers make first contact with specialty coffees.”
“As Brazilians get more demanding about their coffee, the country’s better quality Arabica beans will be increasingly used to service its burgeoning domestic market, rather than merely sent overseas.” adds Jonny Forsyth, a global drinks analyst at Mintel also.
Santa Monica, Fazenda Juliana, Fazenda de Minas and Fazenda Caeté in Minas Gerais are some of the many examples of domestic gourmet coffee producers who are attempting to meet such demands. These small specialist coffee farms currently sell high quality coffee served in café chains, such as Kopenhagen.
The improvements in the quality of coffee are explained by Emilio Rodrigues, “All coffee produced in Brazil used to be bought by the Instituto Brasileiro do Café at a set price, regardless of the quality. After the IBC was abolished in 1989, a free market was created, giving rise to the increase in regulations on quality. Farmers started to improve the quality of their coffee and consider the profits gained by investing in the whole process.
Selling the equivalent of a 60kg bag of coffee at around R$4 per cup started to make more sense.”
Read more: [link]
