History and culture of coffee in El Salvador

A brief History of Coffee production

In 1742, coffee was introduced to El Salvador from the Caribbean (1740).

In the mid-19th century, El Salvador's original export pillar Indigo (one of the dyes) received a gradual decline in the development of synthetic dyes in Europe, and coffee gradually became the main export product under the guidance of the government.

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

In the 1970s, El Salvador produced a record 350000 bags of coffee. With the intensification of the civil war, the coffee industry was in turmoil.

Coffee production in El Salvador was once affected by domestic political instability. In 1992, the parties signed a peace agreement and the civil war was suspended. The coffee industry began to recover.

Present situation of coffee production

"natural and man-made disasters" and "ill-fated" are the most appropriate words to describe the challenges facing the coffee industry in El Salvador. Despite the haze of war, El Salvador's coffee production still faces challenges from time to time, including: 1998, hurricanes; 2001, earthquakes; 2002, volcanic eruptions; 2012, leaf rust.

Despite the challenges, El Salvador maintained a high level of coffee production, according to ICO International Coffee Organization, from 2008 to 2012, total coffee production in El Salvador remained at the Top15 level among ICO member countries. In 2013, affected by the leaf rust disaster, 70% of domestic farms were infected, and the output dropped sharply by about 40%, falling to 16.

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