Pinal Producers, El Pinal Area

We’re a group of highly motivated coffee growers with decades of experience. Most of us are second generation farmers, some third generation.

Our elders teach the youths how to cultivate coffee. But then, the youths, who are much better at gathering novelties online, experiment with new methods and processes.

They also make sure that we improve our techniques and Cafesmo is very helpful when it comes to technical assistance for better water management, increased shade, higher yields. As all our farms are Fair Trade as well as organic certified, we also comply with good labor practices and care for the environment.

At any rate, El Pinal is in a very remote area. It’s a hamlet with about 150 inhabitants and we’re two hours away from San Marcos (10,000 inhabitants) during the dry season. In the rainy season, it’s hardly possible to drive on our dirt roads even with a FWD vehicle, and we are sometimes cut off from the world for days in a row.

For people like us, who like nature, silence, and cleanliness, this remoteness is a great advantage. At 1,500 to 2,000 meter altitude, the climate is delightful year round: 18 to 26 degrees every day and nights are cool but rarely cold. There’s no traffic, no pollution, no noise, no plastic, and no stress, except of course during the harvest season, when everything gets frantic and we all have to work very long days.

Most of  us are men, but our wives and extended families help us when we are in the midst of harvest. The strongest guys carry the coffee on their back for about twenty minutes over winding paths to the dirt road. If we can afford it, we hire mules for a day or two, but usually we don’t have the resources for that. On the patios outside our houses we dry our coffees and this is also where we prepare our micro-lots for specific roasters.

Six years ago, some of us decided to plant avocado trees. It was meant for personal consumption, but they grew so well at this altitude that we soon decided to plant more. Now, these trees are starting to provide an additional source of income and – as a bonus – generous shadow for our coffee plants, which do not fare well if not protected from the strong tropical sunlight.

Together, we offer several varietals, which we often blend for enhanced flavor patterns and rich profiles. When we prepare micro-lots, we usually do so with a single varietal, although we sometimes use two, just for the fun of it. You should try some of our coffees. We’re certain that you won’t be disappointed. The altitude, the pure air, the cleanliness of the water and environment, and, of course, our own efforts, all add up to produce one of the best coffees of our region!

Farm facts

Our farms are all located between 1,500 and 2,000 meters. Most are between 1650 and 1900 though.

We have lots of pine trees that provide natural shadow, but we have also planted avocado trees and lime trees.

The varietals we offer vary for each finca, but we mostly grow catimoro, IH-café-90, lempira, and also obata and parainema.

All our coffees are FTO certified.

This farm is Rain Forest Alliance certified.