SÃO PAULO, Brazil – Two growers from Minas Gerais and one from São Paulo took the podium for the 30th Ernesto Illy Quality Award for Brazilian Espresso Coffee, unveiled at a ceremony that took place today and broadcasted online. The annual award recognizes the best coffee growers in Brazil, where illycaffè acquires most of the beans that make up its globally unique blend.
The winners, in alphabetical order, are Agro Fonte Alta (South Minas), Daniella Romano Pelosini (São Paulo) and José Marques de Araújo (Matas de Minas). The order of the trio from first to third place will be announced in December at the 6th Ernesto Illy International Coffee Award (EIICA), when the Brazilians will compete against 24 other growers that supply illycaffè from 8 countries around the world.
The 4th to 6th best Brazilian producers were chosen, with Ronalt Marques de Araújo from Matas de Minas placing 4th, Eduardo Pinheiro Campos from Cerrado Mineiro placing 5th, and Luís Manuel Ramos Fachada Martins da Silva, from Chapada de Minas, for the 6th place. The regional winners were also announced, as listed below.
The ceremony featured illycaffè’s executives, including chairman Andrea Illy, CEO Massimiliano Pogliani, member of Board of Directors Anna Illy and coffee purchasing director Alessandro Bucci, directly from Trieste, in northern Italy.
“This award represents an important milestone on the history of illycaffè which has always made social, economic and environmental sustainability the cornerstones of its philosophy – explained Andrea Illy, chairman of illycaffè – exactly 30 years ago my father Ernesto Illy created the Brazilian Quality Award, confirming our strategy based on four pillars: working directly with producers, transferring knowledge to them, paying them in a way that makes production sustainable, and creating a club of illy producers, and in the meantime triggering the transformation of Brazil into a high quality coffee producer, making it universally recognized and appreciated”.
Over the last 30 years, more than 17,000 growers have registered for the Ernesto Illy Sustainable Quality Award for Espresso Coffee, one of the most prestigious awards in Brazilian coffee production, which has given out more than R$ 6 million in prize money. The initiative has strengthened relationships between companies and suppliers, proving so successful that illycaffè took the award internationally, creating the Ernesto Illy International Coffee Award in 2016.
Regional winners:
Midwest: 1st place – Carlos Alberto Leite Coutinho
Cerrado Mineiro: 1st place – Eduardo Pinheiro Campos; 2nd place – André Diniz Freitas
Chapada de Minas: 1st place – Luís Manuel Ramos Fachada Martins da Silva; 2nd place – Sergio Meirelles Filho
Matas de Minas: 1st place – José Marques de Araújo; 2nd place – Ronalt Marques de Araújo
Rio de Janeiro: 1st place – Everardo Tardin Erthal
São Paulo: 1st place – Daniella Romano Pelosini; 2nd place – Luiz Miguel Costa Rocha
South of Minas: 1st place – Agro Fonte Alta; 2nd place – Adeniuso João Zanetti
Classifier of the Year Award:
1st place – Rafael Marques de Araújo (Matas de Minas)
2nd place – Luiz Evandro Ribeiro (South of Minas)
3rd place – Vagner Amaral (Cerrado Mineiro)
