El Salvador | La Esperanza

The Farm

Finca La Esperanza is located in Cantón El Porvenir, Municipio de Chalchuapa, Santa Ana. The farm starts at 1,000 m.a.s.l. and reaches up to 1,750 m.a.s.l. It enjoys a tropical climate, loamy soils andre mains unaffected by wind.
Since November 2010 the farm operated by the family’s enterprise with 150 years of coffee growing history – Café Pacas. Since 2012, La Esperanza has been undergoing a complete renovation process. The original trees were very old, resulting in an inefficient and weak root system. Therefore, the managers decided to redesign the farm and organize it as a large varietal garden. The territory of 87.5 ha has been divided into 18 different lots, with different varietals of coffee in each of them. Currently, 70% of the total farm area replanted with: Pacas, Red Bourbon, Pacamara, Orange Bourbon, Kenya, Bernardina, Heirloom, and Mokka varieties. Besides,La Esperanza boasts great biodiversity, which includes various types of shade trees such as ingas,eucalyptus, and conifers, among others.
Lots from La Esperanza achieved 31st place in the COE in 2011, were among the winners in the El Salvador COE in 2019 and 2021 and took 2nd place in the international auction in 2019.
Also in 2012, Cafe Pacas has implemented a social responsibility strategy that focuses on providing wellness workshops to their employees and they also offer individual psychotherapy sessions when needed.

Cafe Pacas actively engages in environment protection by:

• utilizing diverse shade trees,
• implementing the use of “fosas”, which are holes that capture water and organic matter to replenish the aquifers.
• using environmentally friendly fertilizers approved by Green standards.
• Implementing soil erosion prevention programs.
• conserving wildlife and native trees

Natural processing

Coffee cherries carefully hand-picked at the farm. After harvesting, any underripe, dry, or green cherries are carefully removed from the batch. The cherries are then transported to the family`s mill, Vivagua.
Instead of pulping them, they immediately spread cherries out on raised beds under shade oron patios for drying. These layers of coffee are meticulously moved 5-8 times each day,ensuring consistent drying. During the night, the coffee is gathered into small batches andcovered with jute bags to protect it from dew or unexpected rainfall.
The humidity of the coffee measured daily. Once it reaches 12%, the coffee is carefully packed into jute bags and stored in a designated area in the warehouse to maintain traceability. The dried cherries remain in the warehouse until they ready to undergo the dry milling process and be prepared for export. The total drying time usually takes around 10-12 days, allowing the coffee to achieve optimal moisture content and flavor development