Araponga, in Matas de Minas; Carmo da Cachoeira, in the South of Minas and Ibiá, in the Cerrado Mineiro. From these three cities of Minas Gerais came the best Arabica coffees of the 2017/2018 harvest, according to the results of the 27th Ernesto Illy Award for the Sustainable Quality of Coffee for Espresso.
Raimundo Dimas Santana (Fazenda Santo Antônio), Maria D’Aparecida Vilela Brito (Fazenda Moendas) and Ângelo Nascimento (Fazenda São Pedro de Alcântara) are the winners of the national edition of this contest.
The champions received their diplomas and an award of R$ 10,000 each. In October, they will be traveling to New York to participate in the 3rd Ernesto Illy International Award. There they will know their order of classification in Brazil (first, second and third place) and will compete with 3 selected coffee growers from 9 different countries that supply quality beans to illycaffè.
The growers Daniella Romano Pelosini (from Pardinho, in São Paulo state), CBI Madeiras (from Capelinha, in Minas Gerais) and Gelci Zancanaro (from Cristalina, in Goiás state) ranked 4th, 5th and 6th place, respectively.
The award ceremony took place in São Paulo and was hosted by Andrea Illy and Massimiliano Pogliani, president and CEO of illycaffè, who spoke about the current moment and the future of the company.
They also announced the creation of the International illy Coffee Club, a relationship program with coffee growers, derived from a successful project developed with coffee producers in Brazil for the last 18 years.
Ahmed Legesse, from Ethiopia, and Jose Abelardo Enamorado, from Honduras, winners of the 1st and the 2nd Ernesto Illy International Coffee Award were specially invited to this ceremony.
The Italian roaster also recognized the Regional winners, the Sustainable Supplier of the Year and the Classifiers of the Year (see the complete list below). In total, more than R$ 120,000 were awarded in prizes.
Ernesto Illy Award – Regional
Midwest
Winner: Gelci Zancanaro (Cristalina-GO)
Runner-up: Agrofava Cereals Exp. And Imp. Ltda. (Campo Alegre de Goiás-GO)
Cerrado Mineiro
Winner: Ângelo Nascimento and others (Ibiá-MG)
Runner-up: Ecoagrícola Café Ltda. (Francisco Dumont-MG)
Chapada de Minas
Winner: CBI Madeiras (Capelinha-MG)
Runner-up: Claudio Esteves Gutierrez and others (Capelinha-MG)
Matas de Minas
Winner: Raimundo Dimas Santana (Araponga-MG)
Runner-up: Simone Aparecida Dias Sampaio Silva (Araponga-MG)
Rio de Janeiro
Winner: Francisco Nioac de Salles (Bom Jardim-RJ)
São Paulo
Winner: Daniella Romano Pelosini (Pardinho-SP)
Runner-up: Carlos André Dognani (Timburi-SP)
South of Minas
Winner: Maria D’Aparecida Vilela Brito (Carmo da Cachoeira-MG)
Runner-up: Ludgero Pimenta de Avila (Alpinópolis-MG)
Sustainable Supplier of the Year
Luiz Antonio Tonin (São Sebastião do Paraíso – South of Minas)
Classifiers of the Year
- 1st place national – Luiz Evandro Ribeiro (South of Minas)
- 2nd place national – Maxwell Wesley de Morais (Cerrado Mineiro)
- 3rd place national – Edenilson de Oliveira Cabral (Matas de Minas)
Organized annually since 1991, the Ernesto Illy Award is the most important initiative to value the Brazilian coffee.
Created by illycaffè as a fundamental action of its plan to develop and enhance the quality and sustainability of coffee in the country, the contest has already recognized more than 1,400 coffee growers in the last 27 years.
