The official awarding ceremony for the presentation of the 31st Ernesto Illy de qualidade sustentavel do cafè para espresso was held yesterday in San Paulo, in the presence of the best coffee producers in Brazil. During the ceremony, the three winners who will represent Brazil at the 7^th Ernesto Illy International Coffee Award were awarded: Candido de Sordi Machado (Sul de Minas), Claudio Esteves Gutierrez (Chapada de Minas) and João Batista dos Santos (Matas de Minas).

Since 1991, the Ernesto Illy Award for Sustainable Espresso Coffee has been the most important recognition of coffee production in Brazil, contributing to the development of coffee quality and sustainability. This prize is one of Ernesto Illy’s many legacies. He was the first to go to Brazil in the late 80s to show coffee growers that quality and sustainability meant better business and returns. He also gave them the opportunity to improve the quality of their work and their products. In 1991 the award was created to reward those growers who contributed to the development of coffee quality and sustainability in the Brazil.