Brief introduction of coffee producing countries: El Salvador Cafe de El Salvador

country profiles

El Salvador, Spanish República de El Salvador, English the Republic of El Salvador

Located in Central America, it is adjacent to Guatemala and Honduras in the north and the Pacific coastline in the west and south.

It is the smallest country in Central America and the most densely populated country in Central America. The land area is 21393 square kilometers, with a population of 6.25 million (data 2012) and a population density of 327 people/square kilometer.

The economy is dominated by agriculture, with a per capita GDP of $3722 in 2011. Agricultural products are mainly coffee and cotton.

The country is divided into 14 provinces, 7 of which produce coffee.

There are more than 20 volcanoes in the territory, with the name of "Volcano Country". The lowest altitude in the territory is 0 meters, and the highest is Santa Ana active volcano 2385 meters.

In 1524 it became a Spanish colony.

1821 Independence from Spain.

In 1824, it joined the Central American Federation, which included Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua, Costa Rica, and Mexico.

In 1841, it seceded from the Federation and became independent.

Note: Flag on the left and national emblem on the right. The white center of the national flag is the national emblem.

A brief history of coffee production

Coffee was introduced to El Salvador from the Caribbean in 1742 (1740).

In the mid-19th century, El Salvador's original export pillar Indigo (Indigo, a dye) industry gradually declined due to the development of synthetic dyes in Europe, and coffee gradually became the main export product under the leadership of the government.

In 1856, the first 693 bags of coffee beans were shipped to Europe. Europe was El Salvador's most important coffee customer until World War II, when it was replaced by the United States.

In the 1970s, El Salvador produced a record 350,000 bags of coffee. As the civil war intensified, the coffee industry was in turmoil.

Coffee production in El Salvador was affected by the internal political situation, and the civil war was suspended after the parties signed a peace agreement in 1992. The coffee industry is beginning to recover.

Coffee production status

"Natural and man-made disasters" is an apt description of the challenges faced by El Salvador's coffee industry, which has emerged from the shadow of war from time to time, including: hurricane attacks in 1998; earthquake in 2001; volcanic eruptions in 2002; leaf rust, storms in 2012; and so on.

Despite the challenges, El Salvador maintains a high coffee production, consistently ranking in the top 15 of ICO member countries for total coffee production between 2008 and 2012, according to ICO International Coffee Organization data. In 2013, affected by leaf rust disaster, 70% of farms in China were infected, and the yield dropped sharply by about 40%, ranking down to 16.

El Salvador 08-13 Total coffee production and ranking (unit: 000 bags, 60kg per bag)

year

2008

2009

2010

2011

2012

2013

total output

1410

1065

1814

1152

1360

844

ranking

12

14

12

14

14

16

Note: Ranking is limited to ICO member states.

coffee varieties

The chaos caused by the civil war affected economic development, but ironically allowed the ancient coffee species to remain. The situation was too chaotic for Salvadoran coffee farmers to catch up with the trend of coffee variety renewal in Central and South America.

El Salvador produces 100% Arabica coffee, of which 68% is Bourbon (Coffea arabica var. Bourbon), 29% Pacas, the rest include Pacamara, Caturra, etc.

Pacas, first discovered in Salvador in 1949, is a natural hybrid of Bourbon and Catula.

Pacamara, an artificially selected variety of pacas and maragogipe(or maragogype), was first bred in 1958 (1954). Pacamara is a rare excellent variety under artificial breeding. Green is better than blue. It perfectly inherits the advantages of the mother plant. It has the excellent taste of pacas and the big size of malagogipe. Pacamara species are thought to be the result of the pursuit of larger Arabica species.

coffee planting

Most are grown by small farmers. Classification of Salvadoran farmers:

Small farmer, small producer, area less than 7.0 hect;

Medium farmer, medium producer, area between 7.0-70hect;

Large farmer, large producer, area greater than 70hect.

Farmers use traditional planting methods with almost 100% shade.

Note: 1 hectare = 10000 square meters = 15 mu

coffee harvest

Hand picked.

The harvest season lasts from October to March. The peak occurs between November and February.

coffee processing

Water washing treatment, sun drying.

Coffee Grading

According to altitude, the highest is SHG:

SHG, strictly high grown, above 3950 feet(about 1200 meters);

HG, high grown, 2950 feet or more;

CS, central standard, above 1960 feet(about 597 meters).

Note: 1 foot = 0.3048 m

coffee outlet

Raw beans are exported throughout the year and stored in warehouses in the form of shelled beans.

coffee producing areas

coffee is produced in 7 of the countrys 14 departments, with chalatenango and santa ana being the major producers.

El Salvador divides the region into six mountain ranges.

Chalatenango is known for its outstanding performance in recent coe competitions. Some farmers in the area began planting Pacamara species in the 1990s. In 2006, a small farm in the area competed with pacamara against coe and finished second in that year's event with a killer flavor. In 2007, a number of farms in the region competed again as pacamara, winning first, third and fourth places, chalatenango and ta pacamara becoming famous.

Coffee flavor and quality

El Salvador is a producer of high-quality commercial arabica beans. Since 2003, he has participated in COE competitions.

With excellent ancient coffee, successfully entered the fine coffee market.

Coffee flavor is related to the microclimate of the producing area. Generally speaking, Salvadoran coffee inherits the mild quality of Sino-American coffee, which is soft, slightly sour and has a good sweetness, suitable for blending.

Fine Salvadoran coffees can also be impressive, including certain pacamara varieties that exhibit active acidity, depth and depth, and a long finish.

coffee organization

Salvadoran Coffee Association CSC, Consejo Salvadoreno del cafe(salvador coffee council), which is involved in coffee promotion, data collection and international cooperation.