Made up of 55 separate counties, the region of Cerrado Mineiro can be found to the east of Minas Gerais, one of the primary coffee-growing regions of Brazil. Famed for its quality coffee production, the region ranges from 1,000 to 1,250 metres above sea level, providing ideal conditions for coffee production due to the perfect balance of wet and dry seasons. Cerrado alone is estimated to produce as much as 12.5% of Brazil’s total coffee output and has now received ‘Origin status’, meaning only coffee from
‘Cerrado’ can be called ‘Cerrado’; similar to Champagne in France. This exceptional quality is noted to result from a combination of climate, soil, terrain and the general ‘know-how’ of its people, something Inacio is proud to be a part of.

Inacio originally named his farm Rio Brilhante, translating in English as ‘bright river’, to honour the clear crystal water that provides life to his farm. This lifeblood that Urban notes to be so important to Rio Brilhante success originates from ‘Guarani Aquifer’, the second largest underwater reservoir on the planet, partly located underneath the Cerrado region, but also stretching as far as Paraguay and Uruguay. 

The farm holds a number of certifications including Rainforest Alliance, Regenagri, and 4C amongst others. Rio Brilhante is the first farm in the Americas to obtain the Regenagri
certification. This means that the farm addresses the need to regenerate soil and native species to improve the sustainability of the farm and surrounding ecosystems. Practices such as cover crops, organic fertilizer application, carbon sequestration and various other accomplishments were achieved at the farm.