Yuki Minami • Brazil

Yuki Minami’s coffee has played a vital role in Commonplace Coffee’s lineup since 2021. We purchase this coffee via Crop to Cup Importers. 

Raised on a coffee farm in Rio Paranaíba, Minas Gerais in Brazil, Yuki Minami never thought she would work in the coffee industry. After a career in São Paulo working for multinational agribusiness companies, Yuki realized that her hometown coffee industry needed a representative, so she moved back with her father to pursue the opportunity. 

Yuki is a very busy person, overseeing the operations of her two farms (Fazendas Santo Antonio and Olhos D’Água), as well being the CEO of a complex coffee exporting company, Aequitas, that removes intermediaries during the exporting process and, in turn, helps uplift other women farmers in her community. Yuki is building a network for the next generation of farmers Cerrado Mineiro, Brazil, many of which (Yuki included!) are of Japanese-Brazilian descent. This patriotic group is proud of their state and wants nothing more than to see their coffee on menus worldwide. They challenge the regional status quo of selling lower-grade commodity coffee by growing and promoting specialty coffee. Yuki is one of many young farmers that are trying to bring a new perspective to the specialty coffee industry in Brazil and discover what is possible for their families' farms. Her efforts and successes are helping to push the needle.

Yuki’s coffee is very important to us here at Commonplace Coffee. Not only because her coffee is great, her beliefs and actions in the industry also align with our mission near-perfectly. We selected this coffee to highlight Yuki’s community-building work in the coffee industry. This coffee is perfect for everyday drinking: it’s sweet, balanced, and chocolate forward, with a kiss of acidity. We love this coffee and are sure you will too!