Careful Selection and Sorting of Brazilian Green Coffee Beans for Export

Brazil is the world's largest coffee producer, accounting for around 50% of global production. MC started importing Brazilian coffee to Japan in 1968 and has since established its position as the Japanese market leader for the import and sale of Brazilian coffee.

The city of Santos in São Paulo state in Southeastern Brazil has the world's largest green coffee bean market and a coffee shipping port. We established MC Coffee do Brasil Ltda (MCCB) in Santos in 1995 in order to expand our coffee business further.

Brazil produces coffee of various fl avors and aromas. MCCB purchases green coffee beans from all over Brazil, carefully selects and sorts the beans, and then exports them overseas. The company has a state-of-the-art selection and sorting warehouse in Varginha in the state of Minas Gerais, the main coffee-producing region in Brazil, as well as purchasing offices in Patrocinio. Approximately 60% of MCCB's annual exports are to Japan.

Ensuring Complete Traceability

MCCB's Varginha warehouse uses fully automated, computer-controlled systems. Foreign matter is removed using a pre-cleaning device which is the only one of its kind in Brazil. The green beans are stored in silos according to the producing region and farm. The coffee is blended by coffee appraisers according to the fl avor and aroma required for an order. This process is also computerized and the beans are not handled by people at any stage. This system allows complete traceability of which farms or regions the blended beans came from or in what proportion they were mixed.

The blended beans are kept in a storage silo before being packaged and sent to where they will be consumed.

Global Delivery of Safe, High-quality Products

Today, the market requires companies to assume responsibility for the safety and reliability of all edible products. A growing number of customers are also calling for environmental and human rights issues during the production process to be taken into account, alongside fl avor, safety, and quality. As the world's largest coffee-producing region, Brazil is gradually putting into place the necessary systems to meet these market needs. MCCB is also working to ensure that producers and other groups understand the strong focus on safety in the Japanese market.

Against this backdrop, consumers are starting to look for coffee that has a "seal of approval" for its production process, as recognized by such third-party organizations as Fairtrade, Rainforest Alliance, and UTZ CERTIFIED Good Inside (previously Utz Kapeh).

MCCB was certified as a Fairtrade processor and exporter in June 2008. The Fairtrade certification is not awarded unless the Fairtrade concept is accepted by every stakeholder within the supply chain including farmers, intermediaries, and exporters. When it comes to purchasing, rigorous checks are required to ensure laborers and subsistence farmers are not exploited and child labor is not used. Various measures are put into place for countries in Africa or Asia where direct purchasing is not possible, for example, creating check sheets for completion by intermediaries.

We are also strengthening our business in Rainforest Alliance-certified products. The Rainforest Alliance focuses on sustainable practices, in order to deliver safe Global Delivery of Safe, High-quality Products and reliable products to global markets. By handling Rainforest Alliance-certified products, we are indirectly supporting forest conservation and environmentally friendly products, while raising the awareness of this certification system in the Japanese market.

Our goal is to supply safe coffee beans of good quality to markets in Japan, Europe, and the U.S. and to contribute to coffee market growth in developing countries such as Brazil, Russia, India, and China (BRIC) and Southeastern Asia, by drawing on our experience in Japan.