Sucafina Interview — Emilio López Díaz on ES Coffee Production (2023)
Sources: Sucafina interview with Emilio López Díaz (October 2, 2023) — sucafina.com/na/news/emilio-lopez-diaz-talks-coffee-production-in-el-salvador
Coverage
Single-page interview published by Sucafina on October 2, 2023. Emilio López Díaz, CEO and co-founder of Odyssey Coffees, discusses his family history, farms, mills, sustainability programs, and his outlook on the future of El Salvador’s coffee industry.
Key Takeaways
Family and Background
Emilio is a seventh-generation coffee farmer. One side of his family migrated to El Salvador in 1820, the other in 1860, both from various countries (Spain, Colombia, and others) specifically attracted by the El Salvador coffee boom. His children are the 8th generation on the same land. Emilio has been involved in production, milling, exporting, and roasting since 2000 (~23 years at time of interview).
Note: The Odyssey Coffees website says “six generations” for some farms — Emilio’s own account of seven generations is the more authoritative figure. See Odyssey Coffees.
Farms
Emilio’s descriptions add flavor and context to the formal farm data:
- La Cumbre: Pacamara, SL-34, SL-28 and Geisha — confirms SL-28 (not SL-38) at this farm; resolves earlier discrepancy in the Odyssey website
- El Manzano: “For the most part Bourbon,” plus Geisha, Pacamara, Pacas
- Ayutepeque: “Mainly Bourbon” — great for espresso; “rich flavor with notes of caramel and chocolate”
- Las Isabellas: Unique private forest reserve with wildlife; waterfall
- Tapantogusto: “Covered with clouds” (Mayan meaning); mainly Bourbon and Pacas
- Las Piedras: Adjacent to Tapantogusto; strong winds mitigated by windbreaker trees (narrow, vertical species planted in lines)
Mills
- Tequendama Mill (Las Isabellas): 5,000 bag wet capacity. All coffee goes to El Manzano for hulling — centralized dry milling at one location.
- El Manzano Mill: 10,000 bag wet cherry, 25,000 bag dry mill capacity; “state-of-the-art” equipment.
Growing Together Program
The program addresses a core problem: labor migration. Workers leave El Salvador for better opportunities abroad, threatening the labor pool that makes coffee production possible. By improving economic stability of small farmers and communities, Odyssey aims to retain this multi-generational workforce.
Key program mechanics:
- Technical workshops: pruning, soil analysis interpretation, market price reading, coffee trend awareness
- Differentiated sales: “Growing Together” named blend sold internationally for community producers; medium-sized farmers can sell specific lots
- Prepayment: Odyssey pays for coffee before delivery to allow farmers to fund fertilizers and seasonal costs
Impact: Community coffee quality improved from 80 → 83 SCA points since program launch (April 2021) and continues to rise.
Rainforest Alliance — Practical Use
Emilio describes RA certification as a measurement and accountability framework rather than just a label:
“Rainforest Alliance gives us a structure. It gives us a way to measure ourselves instead of just doing things. Before we fertilize or apply anything, we need to justify the why. We do soil analysis and leaf analysis. If we’re going to spray something against coffee leaf rust, we go out and monitor and take readings of what percent of infestation we have and justify why we are going to spray specifically on that land.”
See Rainforest Alliance.
Natural Reserve and Community Programs
Emilio cites 75 hectares of private reserve at Las Isabellas (the Odyssey website says 87 ha — possible update or measurement difference). This is primary forest, untouched for millennia. A community ~1 km away receives spring water shared from the reserve — serving ~2,000 families.
Community health programs:
- Medical team visits to farms; collaboration with NGOs and government
- Vision test for 249 students and 13 teachers at 2 schools; 32% of children needed glasses — Odyssey sponsored all glasses
El Salvador Production: Structural Decline
Emilio’s 2023 assessment of the national industry:
- Coffee’s share of GDP: from 20% (1980s) → less than 0.5% (2023)
- Total production: from 3.5 million bags → ~350,000 bags (2023)
- El Salvador is dollarized — cannot devalue currency to offset cost increases; coffee price is roughly the same as 50 years ago while input costs and wages rose at least 500%
- Urban construction and housing development is consuming agricultural land
This structural context explains why differentiation, quality, and direct relationships are not merely aspirational for ES producers — they are existential.
Sucafina Partnership
Odyssey Coffees works with Sucafina as a trading partner, at minimum for the Australian market (and US at time of article, October 2023). Sucafina published this interview as part of their origin-partner communication. This confirms Odyssey uses large international trading infrastructure alongside direct relationships with roasters.