Marcos Yamashita’s ancestors came to Brazil to work in coffee farms. His grandfather worked at Agricultural Cooperative of Cotia and later in the city of Biritiba Mirim, bringing his family to the countryside of São Paulo State. In 1986, his father, Mr. Mario Yamashita, sold tractors in the region of São Gotardo – for two years, before joining up with his former clients in a venture to plant carrots as a cooperative. The venture was a success and ten years later, in 1996, Mario bought his first farm, and two years later the second one.
Coffee production wasn’t initially planned for Yamashita’s but they started in 2000 to diversify. At first planting coffee was challenging because their experience was in vegetable production. But they learned quickly, motivated in large part by the third generation coming up with an interest. Marcos now runs a coffee farm alongside a team of professionals with a focus on producing purely specialty coffee. He runs the business with his sisters, who manage the farm’s beetroot, garlic, potato, corn, and soybean production.
