Familia Diaz (José Efrain Díaz and family)

Description

Blessed with very fertile volcanic soil, El Salvador is a tiny country but a perennial player in speciality coffee. El Salvador is a top producer of high-quality coffee that is imported worldwide. Coffee exports help increase the country’s revenue and increase the country’s GDP. Coffee is of great importance to El Salvador; a big part of Salvadoran history and culture is tied to coffee production. Also, coffee production helps with the economy, creates jobs, and protects the environment. The densely forested coffee-producing areas have to be protected and maintained. This will ensure the continued production of high-quality beans and the protection of the ecosystem. If the coffee plantations disappear, the nearby primary forests would be in danger of disappearing as well.

The Diaz family are an amazing group of coffee growers. José Efrain is the father of Jose William, Renato, and Santos Arnulfo Diaz. More than 30 years ago, José Efrain used to work with wood and cultivated vegetables but later he decided to switch to coffee, since it was a more profitable endeavor. José Efrain began with 0.5 hectare and continued to expand over time, currently the family owns a 33.5-hec- tare farm, with 14.5 hectares being used for growing coffee. Each member of the family owns their own part of the farm and so, as a family, they have found a balance, allowing them to work together.

As a family they, use the same workers for all the farms, creating a rotational work plan, distributing the workforce according to each of the farm’s needs and the coffee growing cycle. When the harvest season arrives, they already know who the collectors will be and assign them based on the maturity levels and the volume that will be harvested on each farm, and the same happens for the drying of the coffee. Since they do not own their own truck, they rent one to transport the coffee. As access to farms is very diffcult, they must first carry the coffee on their shoulders or use horses to move it to a point where there is better accessed by the road. In this way, they agree when to move the coffee to sell it, and they all travel toge- ther to the center of La Palma.

The Diaz family are known for being a united family, a true example of stewardship and humility. They are also known for being polite and truly committed to quality and excellence – people with a strong will, who know what they want to achieve and proudly work in coffee.

Producer Information:

Location: El Salvador

Region: La Palma, Chaltenango

Coffee varieties: Pacamara, Pacas, Bourbon

Processing: Fully Washed, Dried on Raised Beds

Altitude: 1,650 Meters above sea level

Text from Plowshares' listing.