August 21, 2023
El Salvador is the smallest country in Central America with a Pacific coastline and two parallel mountain ranges. The climatic and geographical conditions of El Salvador have encouraged the pursuit of a many generations of coffee farmers in six producing regions.
Cultivated since the early 19th century, coffee has been a part of many Salvadoran families’ journeys, with many modern 4th or 5th generation coffee farmers carrying on their familial legacy. For many years, coffee was one of El Salvador’s main exports, however, negative climate impacts have drastically reduced the country’s production, making the coffee that makes it to market that much more valuable. Salvadoran coffee farmers have largely focused their efforts on marketing and selling specialty coffee and cultivating prized varietals such as Pacamara, Bourbon, and Pacas.
In recent years, there has been an effort to revitalize the Salvadoran coffee industry, improving the yields and profits of coffee farmers through government, industry, and non-profit investment in programming and other support mechanisms. Coffee farms in El Salvador also hold immense value beyond just producing coffee with agroforestry style farms preserving forest land, promoting biodiversity, and sequestering carbon.
Westrock’s sister company, Falcon Coffees has supported Salvadoran coffee famers through the purchase of certified coffees. These specialty coffee sales have allowed Falcon to fund agronomy scholarships for 3 farmers to attend RENACER Field School located in the Northwest region of the country. In 2023, RENACER was awarded a Sustainability Award from the Specialty Coffee Association (SCA) recognizing the school for their outstanding work on training farmers on affordable and sustainable agricultural techniques.
Beyond the cultivation of coffee, El Salvador also has a blossoming coffee culture. In 2011, Salvadoran barista Alejandro Mendez took home the highest possible barista title and was crowned the World Barista Champion.
For such a small country, El Salvador has demonstrated their enormous passion for coffee, surmounting challenges to produce globally recognized quality coffee, talented baristas, and distinguished coffee schools.
Our sensory experts often find a heavy body and honey-like sweetness combined with mild finish to balance out blends with higher acidity with coffees from El Salvador. They add a lot to the overall body and smoothness of the blend but also provide a smooth and balanced cup when used as a single origin. Salvadoran coffee pairs perfectly with a quesadilla (not a delicious cheesy snack but a traditional Salvadoran pastry)!
