EL SALVADOR - SANTA ANA (ESPRESSO)

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CaféNor es un beneficio seco ubicado cerca de Santa Ana, El Salvador, dirigido por productores locales bajo el liderazgo de Don Alejandro, cuya familia ha estado involucrada en la producción de café durante cuatro generaciones desde el siglo XIX. El beneficio seco solo ha estado en funcionamiento por un corto período y los productores visitan el beneficio todos los días para entregarle su café a Alejandro.

En nuestro viaje a El Salvador, conducimos aproximadamente tres horas desde la ciudad capital de San Salvador para llegar al beneficio seco de CaféNor. Está ubicado en una colina rodeada de pinos y la vista desde el laboratorio de cata, que parecía una pequeña cabaña, fue fantástica con muy buena vibra fluyendo a través de ella. También fue excepcional la ubicación de la casa, donde permanece durante la temporada de cosecha y procesamiento; estaba ubicado en una pequeña colina y dominaba la reserva de la biosfera Trifinio, el punto donde se unen las fronteras de El Salvador, Honduras y Guatemala. Las flores del café estaban en plena floración y el aire se llenaba de un aroma cremoso parecido al del jazmín. “Aquí es seguro, rodeado de las granjas de mis amigos”, dijo Alejandro.

“Quería construir un beneficio local especializado en cafés especiales independiente del precio de mercado que aportan los productores de la comunidad. Algunos productores producen sólo una cantidad muy pequeña de café, unos 100 kg al año. Incluso si producían café de excelente calidad, antes tenían que venderlo mezclado con lotes de calidad normal. Ahora clasificamos estos pequeños lotes por calidad y los vendemos como lotes grupales. Los lotes del grupo se remontan al café de cualquier productor. De esta manera, cafés de productores que sólo pueden producir 100 kg al año pueden llegar a los tostadores manteniendo la trazabilidad”.
Algunos productores han multiplicado por diez el precio de venta de su café como resultado de esta iniciativa. Entregan los frutos de los esfuerzos de los productores directamente a los tostadores para que puedan pagarles un precio justo por la calidad. Esto hace que la población local esté feliz tanto mental como económicamente.

“El molino seco fue construido con materiales locales por personas contratadas localmente. Además, el molino seco y el laboratorio de catación funcionan con electricidad procedente de paneles solares en el techo. Los tostadores y compradores que vienen aquí dicen que es excelente y la comunidad está muy orgullosa de ello”.
Cuando preguntamos: "¿De dónde viene tu sentido de misión que te hace tan comprometido con la comunidad?" Alejandro esperó pensativo un momento y luego se rió y dijo: "Creo que es natural pensar que todos queremos ser mejores juntos".
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[ENG]

CaféNor is a dry mill located near Santa Ana, El Salvador, run by local producers under the leadership of Alejandro, whose family has been involved in coffee production for four generations since the 1800s. The dry mill has only been in operation for a short period and producers visit the mill every day to hand over their coffee to Alejandro. 

In our trip to El Salvador, we drove about three hours from the capital city of San Salvador to reach the dry mill of CaféNor. The dry mill is located on a hill surrounded by pine trees and the view from the cupping lab which looked like a small hut was fantastic with very good vibe flowing through it. The location of the house, where he stays during the harvest and processing season, was also exceptional; it was located on a small hill and overlooked the Trifinio biosphere reserve, the point where the borders of El Salvador, Honduras, and Guatemala meet. The coffee flowers were in full bloom and the air was filled with a creamy and jasmine-like scent. “It’s safe here surrounded by my friends’ farms,” Alejandro said.

“I wanted to build a local mill specializing in specialty coffees independent of the market price that contributes to the producers in the community. Some producers produce only a very small amount of coffee like 100 kg per year. Even if they produced excellent quality coffee, they had to sell it mixed with normal quality lots before. Now we classify these small lots by quality and sell them as group lots. The group lots can be traced back to any producer’s coffee. In this way, coffees from producers who can only produce 100 kg per year can reach roasters while traceability are maintained.”
Some producers have increased the selling price of their coffee tenfold as a result of this initiative. They deliver the fruits of producers’ efforts directly to roasters so that they can pay producers a fair price for quality. This makes the local people happy both mentally and financially.

“The dry mill was built using local building materials by people who were hired locally. Also, the dry mill and cupping lab are powered by electricity from solar panels on the roof. The roasters and buyers who come here say it’s great and the community is very proud of it.”
When we asked, “Where does your sense of mission come from that you are so committed to the community?” Alejandro waited in thought a bit and then laughed and said, “I think it’s natural to think we all want to be better together.”
“The community is all of us riding in the same boat. You can’t be wealthy while others aren’t wealthy and it’s not possible to be wealthy with your efforts only either. I want to be a good leader, but I can’t be a leader if there is nobody around. The key to nurturing a community is to help someone else first. If you do that, the people around you will do the same for you and we can help each other. For example, when my car broke down the other day, the first person who came to help me and stayed with me until the problem was solved was someone from the community. In terms of coffee production, there is healthy competition among the producers, and they are able to put their love and passion into their coffee. This community is really an open-minded and peaceful community. Of course, patience is required and in order to make new things happen, you have to explain things carefully to each person, think on their behalf, and negotiate.”