Our Sourcing Trip Experience (STE) is designed to bring roasters from around the world to meet some of El Salvador’s best coffee producers. The aim is that through these experiences, green coffee buyers are inspired to establish a long-term sourcing relationship.
Before PRF El Salvador, the STE will run from March 12 to March 15, 2023, after which attendees will make their way to the Salamanca Exhibition Center in San Salvador for the two-day Producer & Roaster Forum.
We’re excited to share our next host sponsor: Café L’Étranger. This family-run producer and export business has been growing coffee in El Salvador’s Tecapa-Chinameca region for more than a century.
A family business, from El Salvador to the world
At the end of the 19th century, Belgian immigrant Jules Denys settled in the eastern highlands of El Salvador in hopes that the weather would ease his recovery from malaria, where he ended up getting to know about coffee farming.
More than 100 years on, his great-grandson, Ernesto Samayoa Denys, raised the quality of the cherries thus entering into the select niche of specialty coffee agribusiness. Today, Café L’Étranger has become synonymous with innovative specialty coffee production in El Salvador.
However, as well as this, Ernesto’s wife and business partner Liza explains that the scope of Café L’Étranger’s work extends beyond farming.
“With our social impact initiative, The Coffee HOPE Project, Café L´Étranger is integrating small producers into its exports business model, offering a wide range of coffee varieties that characterize the prestige of the Salvadoran coffee,” Liza says. “We aim to build prosperity in rural communities, sharing best agricultural practices to make a sustainable and prosperous coffee sector.”
She decidedly supports the fact that El Salvador has a perfect location for international trade. It can also grow some of the best coffees in the world, thanks to its volcanic soils, ideal weather, and shaded growing conditions.
“These conditions give the coffee characteristics that are rarely found anywhere else,” she adds. “As a small territory, El Salvador provides quick access for roasters to visit coffee farms and milling process facilities, which conveniently are less than two hours away from the port by road.”
What can STE attendees expect from Café L’Étranger?
Ernesto and Liza hope that roasters who stay with them will recognize their dedication to and passion for specialty coffee.
In fact, Liza tells us that Café L’Étranger has implemented a bespoke service that facilitates direct trade and “makes relationships easier yet trustworthy.”
“Through our personalized service, Café L’Étranger works directly with specialty coffee roasters abroad to offer accurate lots based on our clients’ needs and trends that they face in their markets,” Liza explains.
“We have been dedicated to coffee production for more than a century, now with crescent expertise as direct exporters with a presence in three continents, Café L’Étranger is a family agribusiness that portrays more than just its coffees.”
The family hopes that by connecting roasters and other coffee professionals from consuming countries with local producers, they are “building a more conscious coffee culture and sector” where producers are given the deserved recognition and longed platform.
“Based on a better understanding of the challenges faced at the origin, and by learning about trends in coffee consuming countries, roasters, buyers, and producers will be able to develop action plans to create a back and forth efficient coffee supply chain,” Liza adds.
“Ultimately, this will make each of the businesses that form this wonderful industry more competitive and sustainable.”
The Sourcing Trip Experience is meticulously curated to ensure that roasters from around the world are paired with leading Salvadoran specialty coffee producers.
Over the course of the experience, roasters will get the opportunity to speak with producers at length about Salvadoran coffee production, tour their farms and mills, and sample a range of different coffees.
Some example activities that you can expect during the STE include:
- Farm tours, which will cover a range of different varieties and producer profiles
- Tours of wet and dry mills, where participants will see optical sorting machinery, depulpers, fermentation tanks, and other key equipment in operation
- Cupping sessions arranged directly with producers
- Roundtable discussions on industry challenges from both producer and roaster perspectives
- Networking opportunities with potential sourcing partners and roasters from around the world
- Organized dinners with local specialities/dishes
If you’re interested in attending the Sourcing Trip Experience, book your experience here or email the STE Coordinator at tati@producerroasterforum.com.