Growing coffee in El Salvador
Where is coffee grown in El Salvador?
On six volcanic mountain ranges, led by Apaneca-Ilamatepec in the west, around Santa Ana, with about half of the coffee land, then El Bálsamo-Quezaltepeque and Tecapa-Chinameca. Almost all of it is grown under shade, mostly Bourbon and Pacas, the home-grown mutation that also gave rise to Pacamara. El Salvador grows about 550,000–600,000 60 kg bags a year, far below its 1970s peak.
At a glance
2026- Production
- 542k bags
- 2026/27 forecast, 60 kg bags
- World rank
- No. 21
- 0.3% of world output
- Species
- Arabica
- Harvest
- October to March (CSC)
- Area under coffee
- 118,000 ha (USDA); 170,569 manzanas, about 119,000 ha, 2022-23 (Consejo Salvadoreño del Café)
- Growers
- 21,704 registered producers (CSC, 2016)
- Exports
- 535,100 bags forecast for 2025/26, half to the United States (USDA)
- Main varieties
- Bourbon, Pacas, Pacamara
Production: USDA Foreign Agricultural Service, Coffee: World Markets and Trade (July 2026). Other figures describe 2026 and come from the sources at the end of this page. Updated once a year.
Growing regions
All origins- Alotepeque-Metapán1,000–2,000 m (CSC)Coffee from Alotepeque-Metapán, El Salvador: the small, high northern range of Metapán and Chalatenango, Pacas and Pacamara at 1,000–2,000 m.
- Apaneca-Ilamatepec500–2,365 m (CSC)Coffee from Apaneca-Ilamatepec, El Salvador: the volcanic range around Santa Ana with half the country’s coffee, Bourbon and Pacas at 500–2,365 m.
- Cacahuatique500–1,663 m (CSC, 2016); denomination of origin from 900 mCoffee from Cacahuatique, El Salvador: the Morazán highlands around Perquín and Ciudad Barrios, at 500–1,663 m, with chocolate, caramel, citrus and spice.
- Chichontepec500–1,000 m (CSC, 2016); denomination of origin from 800 mCoffee from Chichontepec, El Salvador: the San Vicente and La Paz range, about 4% of the crop, with chocolate, orange, passion fruit and bright acidity.
- El Bálsamo-Quezaltepeque500–1,960 m (CSC, 2016); denomination of origin from 800 mCoffee from El Bálsamo-Quezaltepeque, El Salvador: the coastal range and San Salvador volcano, over a quarter of the crop, with plum, caramel and citrus notes.
- Tecapa-Chinameca500–2,139 m (CSC, 2016); denomination of origin from 900 mCoffee from Tecapa-Chinameca, El Salvador: the range around Berlín and Santiago de María, at 500–2,139 m, with chocolate, peach and passion fruit notes.
Coffee made modern El Salvador. From the late 19th century it was almost the country’s only export, and it paid for its railways and ports. Today it grows on six volcanic mountain ranges, almost all of it under shade, from Bourbon and Pacas, a mutation found on a Santa Ana farm in 1949, and its descendant the Pacamara. The crop is a fraction of what it was in the 1970s, but the best Salvadoran coffees still top their Cup of Excellence. Here’s how much, where, when and where it goes.
The short version
- About 550,000–600,000 bags a year, all arabica.
- Six coffee ranges; Apaneca-Ilamatepec has about half.
- Bourbon and Pacas, with the home-bred Pacamara.
- All shade-grown, the country’s “biological lung”.
- Harvest October to March.
- Half the exports go to the United States.
How much coffee does El Salvador grow?
About 586,000 bags in 2025/26, USDA says, for a coffee year from October to September:
| Coffee year | Production | Exports |
|---|---|---|
| 2024/25 | 581,000 | about 475,000 |
| 2025/26 (estimate) | 586,000 | 535,100 |
| 2026/27 (forecast) | 542,000 | 543,200 |
Source: USDA, April and July 2026. 60 kg bags. The 2024/25 export figure is our calculation from USDA’s 12.6% rise.
USDA expects El Niño to cut the 2026/27 crop by 7.5%, after torrential rain in December 2025 knocked ripe cherries off the trees. Yields are low, about 5 bags a hectare, and many trees are more than 25 years old. The fall over three decades is steep: El Salvador grew 4.2 million quintales in 1992-93, and its coffee area has shrunk from over 234,600 manzanas in 1993 to 170,569 in 2022-23, the Consejo Salvadoreño del Café (CSC) reports.
Where is coffee grown in El Salvador?
On six mountain ranges, each a protected coffee region. The CSC’s figures:
| Region | Share of production | Area (2016) | Altitude |
|---|---|---|---|
| Apaneca-Ilamatepec | 53% | 66,550 ha (50.1%) | 500–2,365 m |
| El Bálsamo-Quezaltepeque | 26% | 37,545 ha (28.3%) | 500–1,960 m |
| Tecapa-Chinameca | 10% | 15,705 ha (11.8%) | 500–2,139 m |
| Chichontepec | 6,075 ha (4.6%) | 500–1,000 m | |
| Cacahuatique | 4,815 ha (3.6%) | 500–1,663 m | |
| Alotepeque-Metapán | 2,200 ha (1.7%) | 1,000–2,000 m |
Sources: CSC via El Mundo (shares of production, 2023); CSC presentation to the ICO (area and altitude, 2016).
All six ranges are protected denominations of origin, registered with the Centro Nacional de Registros and owned by the state, each with a minimum altitude (800 to 1,000 metres) and an official cup description, Marcasur reports. Another account, from the environmental fund FIAES, gives Apaneca-Ilamatepec 50%, El Bálsamo 28%, Tecapa-Chinameca 12%, Chichontepec and Cacahuatique 4% each, and Alotepeque-Metapán 2%. The CSC grades coffee by altitude: Central Standard from 600–800 m, High Grown from 800–1,200 m and Strictly High Grown above 1,200 m. Six regions now have geographical indications, USDA says.
The coffee
El Salvador grows Bourbon (62% of the area in 2016), Pacas (31%) and Pacamara (2%), the CSC reported. Pacas is a dwarf mutation of Bourbon found in 1949 on a farm of the Pacas family in Santa Ana; the Salvadoran Institute of Coffee Research began selecting it in 1960, World Coffee Research says. Pacamara, a cross of Pacas and the giant-beaned Maragogype selected by the same institute, “frequently dominates” the Cup of Excellence. In 2025 Pacamara and Geisha won most places, and the winners of both main categories scored over 90. All coffee is grown under shade, and El Salvador’s coffee zone is often called its biological lung. The government now hands out rust-resistant seedlings such as Cuscatleco, Marsellesa and Sarchimor, mainly to smallholders.
When is coffee harvested in El Salvador?
From October to March, the CSC says, with planting in June and July. Higher farms pick later: on one 1,800-metre farm in Metapán the harvest begins in late February.
Who grows Salvadoran coffee?
Mostly small farmers, on little of the land. 77% of growers have under five manzanas but farm only 13% of the coffee area, while 2% farm 40%, the CSC reports. The coffee harvest gave about 43,000 jobs in 2022-23. Labour is short, as rural workers leave for construction jobs in the towns, and many growers have switched to cocoa or maize or sold their land to developers, USDA says.
Where does Salvadoran coffee go?
| Destination | Bags, 2025/26 (forecast) |
|---|---|
| United States | 268,570 (50%) |
| Belgium | 60,990 |
| Canada | 26,750 |
| Italy | 23,005 |
| Germany | 22,470 |
| Japan | 19,980 |
Source: USDA, with Trade Data Monitor. Total 535,100 bags.
Salvadorans drink about 332,000 bags a year, mostly instant coffee imported from Mexico and Brazil. In 2026 the San Salvador café Alquimia came third in the World Coffee Bar competition, USDA notes.
A short history
- 1740: coffee reaches El Salvador, the CSC says.
- 1855: the first export of Salvadoran coffee.
- By 1880: coffee is virtually the only export crop, Wikipedia says, and the “coffee republic” of about 1871–1927 builds railways and ports around it.
- 1949: the Pacas mutation is found in Santa Ana.
- 1979–1986: civil war cuts production from 175,000 to 141,000 tonnes.
- 1992-93: a crop of 4.2 million quintales.
- 2003: El Salvador’s first Cup of Excellence.
- 2022-23: the coffee area is 170,569 manzanas.
Salvadoran coffee and other origins
- Coffee in Guatemala: the neighbour to the west.
- Coffee in Honduras: the neighbour to the north.
- The atlas: El Salvador’s coffee ranges on the map.