Since 15 years of Helcio helped his mother in producing crops and benefiting coffee. In 1976, Helcio married with Glycia Pereira Carneiro, and began to manage the farm Santa Lucia. at that time, there was no real concern about the quality of coffee. And neither they had access to knowledge, technology or even information about market for Specialty coffees.

In the 90’s, Helcio was part of the movement that started searching for quality in the region of Carmo de Minas, being one of the founders of Aprocam – Association of Coffee Producers from the Mantiqueira Region.

This group of pioneers sought the help of experts and scientists to know the actual quality of coffees and how to produce quality in large-scale. These experts warned the group about the Pulped Natural Processing Method and how it would be helpful on their wish. Helcio was one of the first growers to get the facilities needed for this method, being a pioneer in the region.

Year after year, with the support of universities and scientists, as well as trips to other coffee producing countries, Helcio kept getting better in the production of specialty coffees. Nowadays his name, and his farm also, are already known in key markets.
“Our main challenge is in manpower, there will be a change in the characteristic of our coffee region due to this factor. And we need to be prepared for this moment”.