Ibiraci, with its current 13 thousand habitants, is one of few cities that has kept its indigenous name until now. A rough translation from the Tupi language means “the tree mother” (the joining of ybyrá – tree – and sy – mother). Until the 16th century it was normal to see tribes of Xacriabás, Crenaques, Aranãs, Mocurins, Atu-Auá-Araxás and Puris wandering these lands. Today, this legacy is hidden in some local habits and vocabulary and few people notice how indigenous people have influenced their life.

The city belongs to the meso-region of Sul e Sudoeste de Minas and to the micro-region of Passos, and neighbors the municipalities of Sacramento, Delfinópolis, Cássia, Capetinga, Itirapuã, Patrocínio Paulista, Franca and Claraval. Considering that Ibiraci is relatively close to the Alta Mogiana region, it is easy to conclude that plateaus make up the local topography.

What you should know about this region:

With great lands, most coffee producers have medium to large properties, and family farming is not common. In the past, quantity offered better conditions to build nice infrastructure to process the coffee before, during and after the harvest. The money from commodity businesses from the past provided a good foundation for those who wanted to invest in quality.

Specialty, on the other hand, offers much better prices, especially when these farmers developed close partnerships with serious traders. Modern machinery and high-tech methodologies to cultivate and process the coffee are leading the way for specialty coffee in this region. For this reason, mechanized harvesting is fairly common and natural is the main processing method. Different ways to dry the cherries are used on these big properties. Everything from cement drying and asphalt patios to large mechanical dryers are used to take good care of high-quality beans. Their goal is to achieve perfection with their naturals.

• Coffee production was introduced in Minas Gerais at the end of the 19th century

• Coffee financed the transportation infrastructure and a great deal of industrialization in the region.

• Its winter (which occurs during the harvest) is dry, with a maximum rainfall of 17mm in August, which facilitates post-harvest processing.

• The summer peak in January is pretty rainy with an average of 347mm.