I have been selecting and roasting coffee in Montréal since 1978. After nearly five decades in this business, I have learned that the most important decisions in coffee are not made at the roaster. They are made much earlier — in the soil, in the relationship between a farmer and the land, and in the choices a roaster makes about who to buy from and why.
This year, I am taking Terra in a new direction. We are moving toward regenerative agriculture as a sourcing principle, and I want to explain what that means and why I believe it matters.
What "Regenerative" Means — and How It Differs From "Sustainable"
Most people in specialty coffee have heard the word "sustainable." It has become so widely used that it no longer carries much weight on its own. Sustainable, in the way it is most commonly applied, means doing less harm — reducing chemical use, lowering emissions, preserving what already exists. That is worth doing. But regenerative agriculture asks a different question: not "are we protecting the land?" but "are we actively restoring it?"
In practice, that means rebuilding soil health through composting, cover crops, and reduced dependence on synthetic inputs. It means planting shade trees to stabilize microclimates and support biodiversity. It means managing water responsibly and treating organic waste as a resource rather than a problem. And, importantly, it means ensuring that the people doing this work have the stability and income to invest in it for the long term.
Regenerative agriculture recognizes what I have always believed about coffee: it is a living system. It depends on healthy soil, stable ecosystems, and farming communities that can plan for the future rather than simply survive the present.
Why This Matters for Coffee Right Now
Climate stress is already affecting coffee production in ways that are no longer theoretical. Heat, drought, and unpredictable rainfall are real pressures on quality and yield at origin. Farms that have depleted their soils and removed their shade cover are more exposed to these pressures, not less.
A regenerative approach builds resilience at the farm level. Diverse systems with healthy soils handle drought better. Agroforestry provides natural climate regulation. And farms with stable, fairly compensated labour forces are better positioned to make long-term investments in quality. This is not idealism — it is sound agricultural reasoning, and it has a direct relationship to what eventually reaches the roaster and the cup.
Bela Vista Estate: Where This Begins for Terra
The first expression of this new direction at Terra is our Brazil from Bela Vista Estate, located in Sul de Minas — one of Brazil's most respected coffee-growing regions.
Bela Vista is a regenerative agriculture producer. The estate has built its coffee programme on community-centred principles: careful soil management, multi-generational farming knowledge, and a labour model that pays employees above the regional average. That last point matters to me as much as any agronomic practice. A farm where the people doing the work are well compensated is a farm that can invest in its own future — and in the quality of what it produces.
Sul de Minas provides an ideal environment for what Bela Vista does best. The region's mild, consistent climate allows the estate to work across a wide range of processing methods, and they use that latitude well. We currently carry two green coffee offerings from Bela Vista.
The Anaerobic Fermented uses a controlled fermentation method that produces pronounced complexity — heightened sweetness, dried fruit character, and a cup that rewards attention. This is a process that requires real precision to execute consistently, and Bela Vista does it well.
The Pulped Natural represents the estate at a different register. The cherry skin is removed before drying, leaving the fruit mucilage intact. The result sits between the clarity of a washed coffee and the intensity of a full natural — structured, sweet, with more subtlety than the anaerobic, and a profile that suits a wide range of roast approaches.
Both are available now in our green coffee collection.
A New Direction, Not a New Label
I want to be direct about something. I am not moving toward regenerative agriculture as a marketing position. I am not pursuing it because it is a trend in the specialty coffee world, though interest is growing for good reason. I am moving in this direction because, after nearly fifty years in this business, it reflects what I have always believed about the relationship between the land, the people who farm it, and the coffee that reaches the roaster.
Terra was founded on the idea that quality and integrity are inseparable. That has always applied to how we roast. It applies equally to how we source. Bela Vista is where that commitment becomes visible in our green coffee programme — and it will continue to shape how we develop our sourcing relationships going forward.
If you are a home roaster working with our green coffees, you are already part of that story.
