![\"Maria](\"https:\/\/anba.com.br\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/condessa-3-1024x1024.jpeg\")
Like any new business, hers wasn\u2019t easy either. \u201cAt first, people on the farm laughed at me because I knew nothing about coffee. Then I closed a big deal with Carrefour, and they kept laughing\u2014this time out of nervousness,\u201d Freire recalls, laughing. In the beginning, production was just one sack of coffee\u2014with the first big contract, it jumped to a metric ton. From there, her brand reached across Brazil and the world, exporting to countries like Canada, Chile, and even Saudi Arabia.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI even gave a radio interview back then, and they asked me: how did you manage to close a deal with a Saudi being a woman? And I answered: they\u2019re great at negotiating. The bad ones are the Brazilians!\u201d she says, always laughing, but without missing the chance to criticize the business environment in Brazil, especially regarding taxes and export challenges.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The truth is, she started the business already thinking about selling abroad. She couldn\u2019t accept, when traveling, seeing Colombian coffees and their marketing conquer more ground while Brazil kept\u2014and still keeps\u2014exporting only raw beans, like her father still does. He, by the way, is the eighth generation of the family in Jacutinga. Freire\u2019s great-grandfather, Eduardo Roberto de Lima, was a well-known coffee grower in the early 20th<\/sup> century. \u201cWhen the NY stock market crashed in 1929, he went around the country buying bankrupt coffee farms. He ended up producing in three states,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Everyone has specialty coffee, but I have the story<\/p>Maria Carolina Freire<\/cite><\/blockquote><\/figure>\n\n\n\n What she did differently from the rest of the family was focus on the end consumer. \u201cEveryone has specialty coffee, but I have the story. I realized I\u2019m good at adding value. My family has been in this business since the farm was bought in 1832, but no one had done this until now,\u201d says Freire, noting that she faced resistance from relatives, including her own father. \u201cAs the saying goes, things don\u2019t make us, we make the things.\u201d And speaking of history, the \u201cCountess\u201d in the name was her great-great-grandmother Genoveva, wife of the Count of Vale do Sapuca\u00ed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n During the 2010s, Caf\u00e9 da Condessa grew, and Freire became an example of female entrepreneurship, even writing a column on the topic for a women-focused magazine. \u201cIt was the right time for a woman to start a business; there was a lot of talk about female entrepreneurs\u2014I rode that wave.\u201d Everything was going well until the pandemic hit.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The coronavirus pandemic nearly broke the business built with so much passion and enthusiasm. Contracts ended, exports fell, and she saw some of her strong competitors close down. Freire considered shutting down operations many times\u2014after all, for someone producing two tons a month, seeing it drop to 300\u202fkg was tough. \u201cNow I sell 20% of what I used to,\u201d she laments.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Even so, her colorful and \u201cbold\u201d packaging\u2014as a roaster once told her\u2014still appears on shelves in select stores in S\u00e3o Paulo, Minas Gerais, and a few other Brazilian states. Exports have become occasional. \u201cBesides still having loyal customers, Caf\u00e9 da Condessa has transformed me, shown me what I\u2019m capable of, and I really enjoy sharing that with other women,\u201d she says, knowing she\u2019s an inspiration for those who want to start a business or follow their dreams.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Not everything was bad during the pandemic. At the end of that long period, Freire was promoting her coffee at Casa Santa Luzia in S\u00e3o Paulo when she met her future husband. They soon started dating and married shortly after. As he is also an entrepreneur, the couple now plan the next steps for Caf\u00e9 da Condessa together.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Learn more:Condessa in the post-pandemic world<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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