Lot 20: El Izotal Aserradero Y Venta De Madera El Pinar, S.A. De C-.V.

EL IZOTAL FARM
Producer: José Alfonso Pineda Solís from ASEVEMA EL PINAR SA DE CV
GENERAL INFORMATION:
Region: Alotepec-Metapán Mountain Range
Harvest: 2024-2025
Altitude: 1910 meters above sea level
Coordinates: 14°16'49"N 89°05'50"W
Variety: PACAMARA and GEISHA
Benefit: El Izotal Artisanal
HARVEST INFORMATION
Soil type: Acid Clay Latosols.
Temperature / average: 23° maximum 13° minimum
Average annual rainfall: 770 mm
Shade type: natural pine shade.
Shade density: varies, approximately 100 shade trees per block. Between 35% and 40%
Flora and fauna on the farm (type of trees): Among the flora are pines, tatascamite,
zajarillo, oaks, peaches, wild strawberries, wild izote, avocados, large wild granadillas
and among various herbs, plants and flowers such as orchids, lilies, cartridges and
hydrangeas. Among the fauna are: Torogoz birds, hawks, checheques, pigeons, bees
(apiaries), lion bird that according to the neighbors is the lion's companion, pezotes,
raccoons, weasels, cusucos, tacuacines, skunks, body spin, snakes, deer, rabbits, gophers,
domestic animals and the lion and the ocelot that can be seen from time to time.
Fertilization methods: We apply Bocashi organic matter once a year, 5 pounds per stick.
Then, we apply the first application of Triple15 fertilizer mixed with Nitro Stand, and the
second application of the same, plus one application of Bocashi each year, and organic
foliar fertilizer with mineral salts (once a year).
Herbicide application: No
Environmental conservation practices: clearing weeds with cuma and controlling
shade using traditional methods, without felling trees, only by pruning them.
Processing Type: Coffee picked at its peak ripeness and processed by washing, natural
cherry trees, and anaerobic washing. Finally, it's dried on African beds, covered with
black plastic to prevent moisture and slow the drying process. It takes between 12 and 18
days to dry, depending on the climate. Once on the African beds, the coffee is watered to
a depth of 6 cm and left for two days without stirring to allow the water to drain (drying
time may vary depending on cloudiness).
Fermentation: In the 2025 Cup of Excellence competition, El Izotal Farm participated
with washed and natural coffee, but we also have washed anaerobic with fermentation for
12 to 18 days.

CULTURAL INFORMATION
Producer Description
I initially purchased the first plots of land in 2012 in the upper area of Chalatenango in
the hamlet of El Izotal, Los Planes canton, La Palma jurisdiction, and we began working
with my family and workers from the same area.
Among the social projects I carried out for the community was the improvement of the
road for access to the El Izotal hamlet, since it is very difficult to reach. Another social
project benefited the children of the area, where a teacher was hired to educate the
youngest children, which delighted the children and their parents. This project has now
been continued by the government.
In addition to these projects, the greatest benefit is the generation of job opportunities in
the area, helping the economy of many families, which have benefited in the place which
is very remote, and that in the past have not received due attention so it has been forgotten
of all help to its inhabitants, but it is expected that this will improve since now through
the attention of the current government they already have electricity, water and latrines,
and first God bless the improvement project and mitigation works of the street to El Izotal
which is in process is approved.
We are mediating with the residents with the gentlemen of the governmental institution
DOM, with Minister María Ofelia Dubon and with the president of the DOM, Licda.
Claudia Guevara, who have already made quite some progress in this process. And I, José
Alfonso Pineda, as owner of the El Izotal farm and representing the El Izotal community,
am very grateful to the government authorities for the good interest and willingness they
have shown us in helping these needy people in the most remote places in the country.

History of the El Izotal estate

The El Izotal farm is named after its location in the El Izotal Village, Los Planes Canton,
La Palma Municipality, Chalatenango Department.
This story begins a long time ago, when I was just a child, and my mother told us about
the farm that Juan Solís (my grandfather) owned. My mother told us that her father had
an Arabica coffee plantation, the same variety of coffee that is called Borbón Indio. She
told us that they spend every year picking coffee with their brothers and sisters, neighbors,
and relatives. My mother, Valeriana Solís, told us that her father saved a considerable
amount of money each year when he sold the processed coffee from each harvest, and so,
almost every year, he bought a small piece of property.
He also told us that on the days they went to pick coffee, they would bring their lunches
and gather them all together to share them. At that time, I began to imagine that I could
do good business and that sharing among family and neighbors was, in my opinion, an
excellent idea.
Sometime later, when I was an adult, I bought a piece of land at a medium altitude, about
900 meters above sea level, where I planted Paca coffee, but it was a generic coffee. Later,
I bought another piece of land in the highlands (El Izotal), and it was there that I planted
different varieties, including Pacamara, Borbón, Paquita, Lempira, and Geisha, with the

aspiration of harvesting coffee with the highest quality standards. This became a reality,
as we participated in the most recent Cup of Excellence competitions, events sponsored
by the Salvadoran Coffee Council and now the Salvadoran Coffee Institute. We have also
participated in The Trifinio competitions, which also recognize the best coffees from El
Salvador, Honduras, and Guatemala, obtaining recognition at these events.
To get to the El Izotal farm there are approximately 125 km from San Salvador, where 82
km are on the Troncal del Norte highway, 18 km from San Ignacio to Río Chiquito which
are all steep hills, and finally 25 km which are on a dusty road and super difficult to access,
there you can only drive at a snail's pace because the access is highly dangerous, in other
words the last 25 km are totally an adventure, and a road not suitable for hypertensive
people, but a mountain where you can experience a lot of peace and tranquility, where
the lungs can be detoxified very easily, you do not hear car noises, only the whisper of
the wind and the singing of birds like the torogoz. And to get to Izotal it can take 4 to 5
hours from San Salvador to the farm.
Future projects to improve our PI-K-CHO COFFEE, the flagship brand of coffee
produced and processed at Finca El Izotal, include improving access to bring everything
the farm needs, improving coffee processing facilities (African beds, warehouses, and
technological equipment), and ultimately, exporting our coffee and making it known.
The adventure takes shape with Don Alfonso Pineda and his collaborators among whom
are his wife, his children and the workers from different areas of Chalatenango and Izotal,
people without whom it would not be possible to achieve anything since with their desire
to support us the bonds of brotherhood have benefited, and development, education and
economic well-being have been brought to more families in need, who had been
completely forgotten since the times of the armed war in El Salvador without paying due
attention to its inhabitants, this being a place in El Salvador where the people and the
coffee are of strict and exquisite quality.
Awards received: We participated in the Cup of Excellence competition, an event
organized by the Salvadoran Coffee Council and now the Salvadoran Coffee Institute, for
which we are extremely grateful, as it has helped us become known.
Cup of Excellence 2019. Classification for National Coffees
Cup of Excellence 2020. Classification for National Coffees
Cup of Excellence 2021. Classification for National Coffees
Cup of Excellence 2023. Classification for International Coffees
Cup of Excellence 2024. Classification for International Coffees
Cup of Excellence 2025. Classification for International Coffees
I take this opportunity to call on coffee buyers participating in the El Salvador Cup of
Excellence electronic auction to consider all the efforts we coffee growers make to
produce high-quality coffees and to offer and purchase our coffees and pay us the best
prices, since producing these coffees entails high operating costs, time, and dedication to
trial and error.