Impact of an Origin Trip

Over the first weekend in March, the Cala Roasting team travelled to Metapán, El Salvador, to tour some partner farms and explore new options for green coffee. The trip was tons of fun, but that's not why we went.

Origin trips are an amazing way for roasters to turn the virtual supply chain into a real relationship. By spending time on the farms and with the producers, it changes the way we talk about and value our coffee. 

“I’ll never screw up a batch of coffee ever again.” Says Jamie, as we are hiking, or rather slipping, down the steep plantation of Gesha trees.

As we struggled to descend the farm’s steep and slippery hill, I turned to my fellow roasters, realizing the significance of our product. We had been hiking this mountain for under an hour, and had just been told the farm workers work 10 hour days on this very hill. The only difference is they also carry massive bags of coffee cherries without the luxury of a 4WD truck bringing them up most of the mountain like we had. 

CafeNor’s mission is to transform and export coffee with high quality standards always guaranteeing traceability. Everything they do is to become more sustainable and innovative and to build long-term relationships between producers and consumers. For us at Cala, it was deeply impactful to see where our product comes from and was a great reminder why we are intentional about who we source our coffee from.

Aside from touring and learning from the producers, we were lucky to be able to stay on the property of one of the farms. We were welcomed with amazing hospitality and enjoyed our free time in the woodfired sauna, hot tub, and pool. Many authentic pupusas and cold cervezas were consumed.

Some highlights of the weekend:

• Cupping many coffees from CafeNor producers

• Touring the CafeNor carbon neutral mill, seeing the processing equipment, warehouse, and sustainable composting system

• Touring Finca El Conacoste, Finca El Trompillo and Finca La Hondurita saw the differences in Geisha, Java, and Typica coffee varieties.

• Driving through the treacherous roads of Metapán and Chalatenego

• Befriending so many farm dogs 

• Watching the sunset over the Sierra Madre Mountains

We learned so much this past week and made many lifelong memories. To sum up the weekend, each team member was challenged to describe the trip in 5 words: 

Josh- Honoring, Origin, Past, Present & Future

LG- Sustainability, Detail, Hospitality, Quality, Bad Bunny 

Jamie- Culture, Relationships, Pupusas, Kindness, Pride, Honesty

Braden- Valuable, Cupping, Farm Dog, Fruit, Sweaty

This was my first origin trip, and I was deeply impacted by the producers' passion for their crop, and also by their kindness and hospitality displayed to us. It motivates me to put in the same care into my work. I returned from the trip super excited for what is in store for Cala’s contribution to the coffee industry.