Brazil

Originally from Guaxupé, a town in Minas Gerais, Mr. Olavo Barbosa was who started the business. He was the son of a coffee and milk producer and started to work at the age of 16 at one of the branches of the Brazilian Coffee Company of the Moreira Salles Group, in 1939. From cleaning assistant, he worked his way to coffee preparation and became acting manager in 1947, a position that he would occupy until 1951 when the Moreira Salles Group decided to end its coffee operation. With the branches of the company put to sale, Mr. Olavo Barbosa decided to buy his first warehouse, the Guaxupé Warehouse, with capacity for 7,000 coffee bags. Mr. Olavo then started to work on his own, trading coffee in the Southeast of Minas and other products that he bought and sold in many trips made while driving his own truck. Ten years passed until 1958 when he acquired his first coffee farm. From this moment on, Mr. Olavo starts to sell his coffee production also to roasters, hosting clients on the farm and promoting his coffees. Exportadora Guaxupé was founded in 1970 when Mr. Olavo Barbosa decided to increase the capacity of the warehouses in order to expand operations. The second warehouse was acquired in 1972 and others were built in 1973, 74 and 76. The first coffee shipment was made in July 11, 1979. It was a lot composed of 2,500 coffee bags delivered to Canada. At this time the Santos office was also created. Since then, the company never stopped growing. Today, more than 30 years after its foundation, Exportadora Guaxupé exports 800,000 coffee bags on average every year to clients in 27 countries in all continents.