It is present at the table in the morning for most Brazilians, helps to facilitate work meetings or moments of leisure among friends, and also encourages the circulation of visitors throughout the country. We are talking about coffee, one of the great national passions, whose World Day is celebrated on April 14. The beverage is the main attraction of several rural tourist itineraries in the country, captivating those interested in learning about its production process and, of course, tasting it.
Minas Gerais, for example, the leader in grain production in Brazil, offers several options of this kind. One of them, the Special Coffee Route, spans 35 kilometers through the cities of Carmo de Minas and São Lourenço, providing tours among centuries-old farms – all amidst the stunning scenery of the Serra da Mantiqueira. The region, by the way, is considered one of the world’s largest coffee hubs, due to the quality of the goods processed there.
The interior of São Paulo state, the main coffee producer in the 18th and 19th centuries, also offers a rich array of alternatives. Municipalities like Bananal, Cajuru, Itatiba, Monte Alegre do Sul, and Serra Negra, which are part of the Vale do Café Paulista, house old rural properties that produce the grain, where tourists also have the opportunity to check out the Portuguese colonial architectural style reminiscent of the period of ‘black gold’, as coffee was known.
The Minister of Tourism, Carlos Brito, emphasizes the importance of coffee to traveler movement and advocates for efforts to harness the potential associated with the beverage. “Brazil is the largest producer and exporter of coffee on the planet and the second largest consumer of the beverage. With these attributes, we need to promote the structuring of itineraries and allow them to attract more and more visitors, favoring the development of national tourism as a whole,” he asserts.
The region of Vale do Paraíba Sul in the state of Rio de Janeiro also has attractions for lovers of the famous beverage. The Vale do Café, made up of cities such as Vassouras, Barra do Piraí, Mendes, Paty do Alferes, and Paraíba do Sul, offers an immersion in coffee culture, with the right to stay in historic farms and visit plantations, churches, museums, and roads that were of great relevance in the production of the grain in the past.
The beverage is also the star of rural tourist circuits in Espírito Santo, such as the Route of the Valleys and Coffee. The tour includes cities like Vargem Alta, Cachoeiro de Itapemirim, Muqui, Mimoso do Sul, and Marataízes, which house properties where it is possible to appreciate the architecture of the colonial period and the legacies of the golden age of coffee in Brazil, in addition to waterfalls, rivers with rapids, and lush forests.
In Paraná, the rural tourism route of Northern Pioneiro brings together municipalities that allow visitors to delve deeper into the history of coffee, such as the cities of Londrina, Santa Mariana, and Ribeirão Claro. Along the route, some producers open the doors of their farms to show visitors the process of cultivating the grain, including tours of the plantations, harvesting, drying the product, and finally, tasting the liquid.
Northeast
In addition to housing some of the most iconic sun and beach destinations in Brazil, the Northeast of the country offers tourists leisure alternatives associated with the beverage. One of them, the Green Coffee Route, traverses locations in the Ceará hinterland, such as Guaramiranga, Mulungu, Pacoti, and Baturité. The circuit allows visitors to tour old properties and mansions that depict the history of grain production in the region.
Getting to know coffee culture is also a good option in Chapada Diamantina, in Bahia, where the cultivation of the grain, which began in the mid-19th century, is favored by the mild climate of the higher altitudes. In the Santa Bárbara community, for example, in the municipality of Piatã, rural tourism guarantees visitors experiences in plantations and direct contact with family farmers who produce the beverage.
Support
Support for coffee-based itineraries is one of the objectives of the second edition of the Rural Brazil Experiences project, a federal government initiative aimed at strengthening tourism in the countryside. In addition to the grain, the initiative, a partnership between the ministries of Tourism, Agriculture, Livestock and Supply, and the Federal Fluminense University, ensures technical support for specialized routes in the agro-food chains of cachaça, cassava flour, and honey.
The project aims to boost products and services from family agriculture associated with tourism, diversifying the Brazilian tourism offer by integrating these into the travel market.
History
Discovered by Arab merchants in Ethiopia and brought to Egypt, Turkey, and other African countries, coffee arrived in Brazil in the 18th century, through the hands of a farmer from Pará. Due to climatic, topographical, and soil circumstances, by the mid-19th century, the crop established itself more strongly in the Vale do Rio Paraíba, in the states of Rio de Janeiro and São Paulo, initiating a new economic cycle in Brazil.
Source: www.gov.br, by André Martins