[et_pb_section bb_built=”1″ admin_label=”section”][et_pb_row][et_pb_column type=”4_4″][et_pb_image admin_label=”birdseye Pequenos” show_in_lightbox=”off” url_new_window=”off” use_overlay=”off” sticky=”off” align=”center” always_center_on_mobile=”on” force_fullwidth=”on” _builder_version=”3.0.86″ src=”\/\/cdn.cafeimports.com\/images\/IMG_3D78C42F4062-1.jpeg” animation=”off” show_bottom_space=”on” animation_direction=”off” \/][et_pb_text admin_label=”Intro” background_layout=”light” border_color=”#686868″ max_width=”1000px” text_font_size=”16″ background_position=”top_left” background_repeat=”repeat” background_size=”initial” _builder_version=”3.0.86″ saved_tabs=”all” module_alignment=”left”]<\/p>\n
\u201cProject\u201d is a perfect homonym, because it not only captures the work and careful planning that goes into a task at hand, but it also expresses forward motion, forecasting, prediction\u2014the future. <\/b><\/p>\n
[\/et_pb_text][et_pb_text admin_label=”Para 1″ background_layout=”light” border_color=”#686868″ max_width=”1000px” text_font_size=”16″ background_position=”top_left” background_repeat=”repeat” background_size=”initial” _builder_version=”3.0.86″ saved_tabs=”all” module_alignment=”left”]<\/p>\n
In 2008, when most of the specialty-coffee world was looking at the volcanic slopes of Santa Ana for El Salvadoran coffee, Jason Long, head of sourcing at Cafe Imports, turned instead to the smallholders of a tiny, remote community called Chalatenango, in search of relationships that would be long-lasting, developing over time not only to encourage higher yield and higher-quality production from the region. Chalate (as it\u2019s sometimes called) had just earned some much-deserved attention from the 2007 Cup of Excellence competition, but the difficult\u2014if not downright impossible, after heavy rain\u2014road conditions, extremely small single-farm yields, and the fact that most producers sell in parchment here made Chalatenango a bit slow to light up the world, even though the coffees often lit up on the cupping table.<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n \u201cAh, the coffee,\u201d Jason wrote in a blog post that year, after one of his trips to this tiny section of the tiniest country in Central America. He waxed downright poetic about Pacamara: \u201cIt was liquid peach juice, floral and fresh summer berries, with an acidity that is there the whole way, but not even a hint of being overpowering. It was not only the best El Salvadoran that I had cupped, but one of the best coffees<\/i> that I have cupped.\u201d<\/p>\n Jason didn\u2019t know it at the time, but he was projecting\u2014<\/i>in both senses of the word.<\/p>\n [\/et_pb_text][et_pb_image admin_label=”Chalatenango Photo” _builder_version=”3.0.86″ src=”\/\/cdn.cafeimports.com\/images\/EL_Sal_Chalatenango_web-3.jpg” show_in_lightbox=”off” url_new_window=”off” use_overlay=”off” sticky=”off” align=”center” always_center_on_mobile=”on” force_fullwidth=”off” animation=”off” show_bottom_space=”off” animation_direction=”off” \/][et_pb_text _builder_version=”3.0.86″ background_layout=”light” header_font=”Raleway||||||||”]<\/p>\n Las Pilas, Chalatenango<\/em><\/p>\n [\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][et_pb_row][et_pb_column type=”1_2″][et_pb_text admin_label=”Para 3″ background_layout=”light” border_color=”#686868″ max_width=”1000px” text_font_size=”16″ background_position=”top_left” background_repeat=”repeat” background_size=”initial” _builder_version=”3.0.86″ saved_tabs=”all” module_alignment=”left”]<\/p>\n Where Santa Ana is mostly famous for the predominance of butterscotch-sweet Bourbon variety, Chalatenango is rich with the more acidic, more complex, sweet-tart-savory Pacas and Pacamara, both of which are Salvadoran originals. \u201cPacamara is probably one of the top-cupping varieties globally,\u201d wrote Cafe Imports senior green-coffee buyer Piero Cristiani last year, reflecting on a harvest that finally showed signs of recovery from El Salvador\u2019s extended struggles with coffee-leaf rust in the mid-2000s. <\/span>\u201cThese coffees are able to stand up to a Colombian or an African coffee\u2014more complex, higher acidity, more sweetness,\u201d Piero said.<\/b><\/p>\n Piero, who is based out of El Sal several months every year, not only shares Jason\u2019s enthusiasm for Chalate\u2019s brilliant coffees, but he\u2019s also worked tirelessly since 2011 to pick up the Chalate microlot project\u2014called Peque\u00f1os<\/i> for the fact that the lots are so small that they are sold in 35-kilo bags\u2014and to continue to push it forward.<\/p>\n [\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column][et_pb_column type=”1_2″][et_pb_image admin_label=”Map” _builder_version=”3.0.86″ src=”\/\/cdn.cafeimports.com\/images\/23967-elsalvadorcountrypagemap-1.png” show_in_lightbox=”off” url_new_window=”off” use_overlay=”off” sticky=”off” align=”center” always_center_on_mobile=”on” force_fullwidth=”off” animation=”off” show_bottom_space=”off” url=”\/\/cdn.cafeimports.com\/images\/23967-elsalvadorcountrypagemap-1.png” animation_direction=”off” \/][et_pb_text _builder_version=”3.0.86″ background_layout=”light” header_font=”Raleway||||||||”]<\/p>\n Click map to zoom<\/em><\/p>\n [\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][et_pb_row][et_pb_column type=”4_4″][et_pb_text _builder_version=”3.0.86″ background_layout=”light” header_font=”Raleway||||||||” header_font_size=”23px”]<\/p>\n [\/et_pb_text][et_pb_image admin_label=”Beto” _builder_version=”3.0.86″ src=”\/\/cdn.cafeimports.com\/images\/EL_Sal_Chalatenango_web-1.jpg” show_in_lightbox=”off” url_new_window=”off” use_overlay=”off” sticky=”off” align=”center” always_center_on_mobile=”on” force_fullwidth=”off” animation=”off” show_bottom_space=”off” animation_direction=”off” \/][et_pb_text _builder_version=”3.0.86″ background_layout=”light” header_font=”Raleway||||||||”]<\/p>\n Beto Reyes – Cafe Imports cupping and sourcing associate<\/em><\/p>\n [\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][et_pb_row][et_pb_column type=”1_2″][et_pb_text admin_label=”Para 4″ background_layout=”light” border_color=”#686868″ max_width=”1000px” text_font_size=”16″ background_position=”top_left” background_repeat=”repeat” background_size=”initial” _builder_version=”3.0.86″ saved_tabs=”all” module_alignment=”left”]<\/p>\n Piero works closely with Alberto \u201cBeto\u201d Reyes, a master cupper and on-the-ground \u201ccoffee scout\u201d in Chalate who travels to meet farmers\u2014often in their own homes, where their parchment coffee is stored\u2014and collects a sample from each and every bag they produce. The coffee is then cupped and scored, and, depending on the quality of the lot, price and quantity will be agreed upon. Piero and Beto then arrange for the milling and transport of the parchment coffee, including sorting, bagging, and tagging. <\/span><\/p>\n The average farmer in Chalate might produce 5 \u2013 100 quintales of parchment coffee annually, which is something of a blessing and a curse when it comes to sourcing microlots, especially in those early days: Many small chops from dozens of producers means lots of variety and the potential for matchmaking small roasters and smallholder farmers for mutual growth, but it also means a lot of paperwork, delicate negotiations, watertight scheduling and logistics management, and, occasionally, it means there are too many cooks in the kitchen.<\/span><\/p>\n Mostly, however, it means that\u2014with a little creativity and innovation\u2014a project like <\/span>Peque\u00f1os<\/span><\/i> has the potential for huge propulsion, constantly improving in terms of quality and in the possibility to make real impact at the farm level.<\/span><\/p>\n [\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column][et_pb_column type=”1_2″][et_pb_image admin_label=”Pequeno Producer” _builder_version=”3.0.86″ src=”\/\/cdn.cafeimports.com\/images\/Pequenos-1.jpg” show_in_lightbox=”off” url_new_window=”off” use_overlay=”off” sticky=”off” align=”left” always_center_on_mobile=”on” force_fullwidth=”off” animation=”off” show_bottom_space=”on” animation_direction=”off” \/][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][et_pb_row][et_pb_column type=”4_4″][et_pb_text admin_label=”Para 5″ background_layout=”light” border_color=”#686868″ max_width=”1000px” text_font_size=”16″ background_position=”top_left” background_repeat=”repeat” background_size=”initial” _builder_version=”3.0.86″ saved_tabs=”all” module_alignment=”left”]<\/p>\n Buying in parchment poses a greater risk to Cafe Imports, but it allows us to pay farmgate prices and ensure that the producers get their share directly.<\/b> It\u2019s also how most of these producers have historically sold their yield\u2014except the buyers have typically been local exporters<\/span>, who pay the going market price\u00a0and use it for blending into their SHG lots for higher quality and yields, losing the traceability along with the qualities that make each farmer\u2019s output special. By absorbing the practical, logistical, and financial burden of milling and sorting, we are able for the first time to offer a wide variety of small, specially selected lots from the community\u2014some as little as just a few quintales, a few hundred pounds.<\/span><\/p>\n For the vast majority of the producers from whom we\u2019re buying these <\/b>Peque\u00f1os <\/i><\/b>lots, the idea that their farm, their name, and their work is being recognized by roasters and coffee drinkers all over the world is a deeply moving and exciting prospect. When asked, many of the producers said their ultimate goal is to find a roaster who will buy all of their coffee in a year and become a true partner; many of them even hope to create collaborative, experimental lots for particular buyers.<\/b><\/span><\/p>\n Not only that, but we\u2019re also organizing a Coffee Send-Back for the Chalatenango producers\u2019 coffees this year: Any roaster who buys as little as one Peque\u00f1os<\/i> bag from this year\u2019s harvest is invited to send 1 pound of roasted coffee back to the farmer who produced it\u2014closing the circle of supply, making that direct connection, offering tangible sensory feedback about their coffee (often for the very first time), and just saying thanks for the work.<\/p>\n [\/et_pb_text][et_pb_image admin_label=”Pequeno Bag” _builder_version=”3.0.86″ src=”\/\/cdn.cafeimports.com\/images\/Image-1.png” show_in_lightbox=”off” url_new_window=”off” use_overlay=”off” sticky=”off” align=”center” always_center_on_mobile=”on” force_fullwidth=”off” animation=”off” show_bottom_space=”on” animation_direction=”off” \/][et_pb_text admin_label=”Para 5″ background_layout=”light” border_color=”#686868″ max_width=”1000px” text_font_size=”16″ background_position=”top_left” background_repeat=”repeat” background_size=”initial” _builder_version=”3.0.86″ saved_tabs=”all” module_alignment=”left”]<\/p>\n Join us in this project, and help us project the small producers of Chalatenango into a delicious, prosperous, and future. <\/b><\/p>\nHere\u2019s how the Chalatenango Peque\u00f1os <\/i>project works:<\/strong><\/h1>\n