Overview

La Montaña and La Honduritas farms are located at the Chalatenango department, on the northwest of El Salvador, at the Alotepec-Metapan mountain range. This region is probably the most recent place where coffee has been planted in El Salvador.

La Montaña participated and won last years COE as well. This year he joined forces with José Arnulfo Montiel to complete a lot big enough to participate and begin their quest to excellence. They are both a good example of small, hardworking coffee growers who have not neglected their plantations even in the worst times. They know that their family depends on them and they love coffee.

Their coffee was process in the mill belonging to his neighbor, Antonio Aguilar, who won 14th place in this year’s competition. The wet milling process and sun drying on patios, assures excellent quality. They make sure to harvest the ripest beans only and the farms are in close proximity to the mill, which allows for immediate depulping, only few moments after being picked. They strongly believe that altitude and soil play an important role to achieve high quality.

They use organic matter as fertilizer, and weed control is done manually. Raúl and José Arnulfo motivate their workers by paying extra wages for only perfectly ripped coffee cherries. Green and immature bean sorting when needed is also performed. There are some 40 people employed during harvest time, Raúl and José work as a team to get the work done in an efficient timely matter. They share workers and transportation to the mill. They hope to invest the earnings from this year COE into expanding the farm and in the sowing of more coffee trees.

Other Statistics

Other Crops: Natural reserve
Average Temperature: 18–20 ºC
Type of Soil: Clay loam
Type of Shade: Ingas, lambar and other native trees
Annual Production: 120 bags (60kg) between both farms

Latitude: N14º 17' 30.4" Longitude: W89º 07' 40.0"