Carmen and Rafael Silva were the first producers we met when we first visited El Salvador in 2003, and Finca La Fany is one their farms. This relationship is one of our longest and most special, and we consider it a hallmark example of our incredible producer relationships.
The family is overseen by Rafael (who focuses on the farms) and his wife Carmen (who focuses on coffee buyers like us!), with support from their sons Rafael Jr (focused on the mill and some of the farms) and Rodrigo (splitting between sales and the mill).
The Silva family has been producing El Salvadoran coffee since 1870 and fans will recognise their name as the people also behind Finca Siberia. They started sowing coffee trees along one of the highest summits of the Apaneca-Ilamatepec mountain range, and named this farmland Siberia for its chaotic weather conditions and limited accessibility. A century later, the land was inherited by Rafael Silva.
Finca La Fany is situated in the Apaneca municipality in the north-east of El Salvador, on the slopes of the Santa Ana volcano at 1,400 - 1,550 metres above sea level. Apaneca translates to “river of winds” from the native Nahuatl language, however the land that Finca La Fany sits on is nestled in a bowl shaped dip of the mountain range where most of the strong winds pass over the top, creating a distinct microclimate for the farm compared to surrounding areas.
Originally owned by Rafael Senior’s great aunt Fany, she established the farm in 1870 and it's belonged to the same family from generation to generation. Rafael Senior’s father took over the 80 hectare farm after Fany, then split the land in two when he passed it down to Rafael Senior and his brother, with the other half passed to Rafael Junior’s cousin as Finca Siberia. Today the farm is overseen by Rafael (who focuses on the farms) and his wife Carmen (who focuses on coffee buyers like us!), with support from their sons Rafael Junior (focused on the mill and some of the farms) and Rodrigo (splitting between sales and the mill). Alongside the family, the farm and mill provide work for 24 families in the community.
The processing is done at the family’s mill, Beneficio San Pedro. This is one of the highest elevation mills in the whole of El Salvador, with unusually high humidity, so it takes extra skill to process coffees as amazingly as their team do - thanks for your awesome work guys! It’s incredibly well organised and Rafael Junior has a preference for very controlled and well balanced processing.
La Fany currently grows a wide range of varietals, they’re gradually replanting these in a more orderly way with a smaller variety of plants to make picking a simpler and more efficient task. This is particularly important given the challenges finding manual labour in Central America now.
