A young coffee-producing region, Cerrado began production in the early 1960s and is today internationally recognized for its quality. Located in the state of Minas Gerais, in western Brazil, the Cerrado has however suffered from the increasingly important usurpation of its name and reputation by neighboring regions. A few years ago, 10 million bags left the country with the name "Cerrado", while the real production capacity of the region was 5 million bags.
In 2013, the producers obtained the Denomination of Origin (DO) "Cerrado Minerio". A sign of quality which certifies the authenticity of the coffee, proving that the latter does indeed come from the region and has qualities specific to its terroir of origin. Thus, consumers and roasters are guaranteed to taste an Arabica coffee (a blend of varieties with mainly Mundo Novo and Catuaí) produced in the region delimited by the certification, at an altitude between 800m and 1300m and that it has obtained at least 80 points following the SCAA punctuation during tasting.
Today, the DO brings together 4,500 producers spread over 17,000 hectares and is supported by 9 cooperatives, 7 associations and 1 foundation. An independent body certifies the quality of the coffees, in order to define whether they can be certified "Cerrado Mineiro" or not.
