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Grafik: Ingo H. Klett für die © WEBER Packaging GmbH, 2019
DHBW student Noemi Gerhäusser recently travelled to Central America for several weeks and reported – from Andrés Quintanilla Bellucci's coffee farm in the Departamento San Miguel in El Salvador – exclusively for us here in the WEBER news blog.
You can find the individual blog posts either by scrolling or by a specific search using the tag 'El Salvador' especially here in the news blog.
Andrés und ich nach unserem „Farmers Talk“. Foto: © WEBER Packaging GmbH, 2019
My travel report
At the end of my time in El Salvador, I interviewed coffee farmer Andrés Quintanilla from the Departamento San Miguel and asked him the questions that the readers of the blog series about my stay in El Salvador had previously written to me.
But you can see for yourself...
Mein Interview mit deutschen Untertiteln
Ein Videoclip der © WEBER Packaging GmbH, 2019
My original interview in English language
Ein Videoclip der © WEBER Packaging GmbH, 2019
I would like to thank everyone from the bottom of my heart who made this exciting time possible for me. First of all, my dual partner, WEBER Packaging GmbH, who gave me time off; the Quintanilla family, who welcomed me so warmly into their family and thus gave me a second home; and Doctor Schwarz, who established contact with Andrés Quintanilla.
The sentence on the banner means: Support for the development of the coffee culture in El Salvador. Photo: © WEBER Packaging GmbH, 2019
My travel report
Today we were allowed to accompany coffee farmer Andrés Quintanilla at a bank event. The bank has set up a fund to support coffee farmers, in order to provide information events for further training. At these events the farmers can exchange their experiences and help each other. The bank's support measures consist of financial resources, technical assistance and guidance on sustainable coffee cultivation. Just one example of the technical assistance is drones, which the bank acquired from a Berlin-based company in 2015.
Today's event focused on the fertilization of coffee farms. First, employees of the ecoBusiness Fund, the bank's fund, gave a presentation on their work: there, customers can make information from their farm available to other farmers. The ecoBusiness Fund also has the task of collecting data. With the help of drones, the size of the farm, the exact location and even the amount of plants can be determined. It also makes it possible to identify certain soil characteristics. The soil plays an important role for the farmers, as it varies from area to area and thus offers different bases for cultivation.
This is where fertilization comes into play: If the coffee farm is located in an area that offers little sodium, for example, this trace element must be added. Otherwise, the plant - similar to humans - could show signs of deficiency or, in the worst case, it would not grow. An important rule in fertilization is Liebig's Law of the Minimum, which states that the growth of a plant is limited by the relatively scarcest resource. Farmers have the possibility to "order" a soil diagnosis from a company and then use the results to plan their fertilization, planting and cultivation. The advantage of such an analysis is that the farmer then knows exactly what he needs to supply the plants for optimal growth and thus does not spend money on unnecessary means.
Read part 8 here in the WEBER News blog!
Quintanilla family on the way to the polling place. Photo: Andrés Quintanilla for © WEBER Packaging GmbH, 2019
My travel report
On 3 February 2019 the election of the president took place in El Salvador. For weeks, each party tried to convince the voters of their candidate by means of posters, television appearances and advertising campaigns. Since Andrés Quintanillas father is not only a lawyer but also a former vice president of the country, the election preparations were of course followed closely. In this way, we too quickly got a picture of the candidates and their election promises.
On election Sunday we went to the polling station together. Here it is customary to dress in the colors of the party logo or to draw attention to it through accessories. This way you can quickly see who votes for which party and many Salvadorans are fully behind their party. In order to be allowed to vote, one has to be 18 years old and present one's identity card. Then the fingerprint is taken to prevent voters from voting in two polling stations. The ballot papers themselves are very simple and contain only the logos of the parties. Andrés explains to us that many people can neither read nor write and therefore only the logos are shown, which are then ticked off.
The polling stations were open until 5 pm and then the counting started. Every single ballot paper is presented by an election worker in front of a camera and he has to recite the name of the party out loud. There is a representative from each party who receives all the ballot papers from his party and has to count them.
Read here in the WEBER Nachrichtenblog the 7th part!
Die Paella – Schritt 1. Foto: Noemi Gerhäusser für die © WEBER Packaging GmbH, 2019
Mein Reisebericht
Today my hosts had a birthday party. Of course, such a party cannot be without delicious food. So Alexandra, Andrés' mother, decided to cook paella. She showed us step by step how she cooks it and what to pay special attention to.
(Picture at the top) First the diced meat is fried in olive oil. Today it was chicken and pork, but you can also use other meat. Or you can exchange the meat for seafood.
The paella - step 2 Photo: Noemi Gerhäusser for © WEBER Packaging GmbH, 2019
Then add carrots, colorful peppers, onions and tomatoes and let the mixture simmer a bit.
The paella - step 3 Photo: Noemi Gerhäusser for © WEBER Packaging GmbH, 2019
When the vegetables are half cooked, put the meat-vegetable mixture on one half of the pan and spread uncooked rice on the other half. Make sure that the rice is evenly distributed. Then broth is added and everything is mixed together.
The paella – step 4 Photo: Noemi Gerhäusser for © WEBER Packaging GmbH, 2019
After about 5 minutes, sugar snap peas and olives are spread on the almost finished paella. Then it just has to simmer until the rice is ready. To speed up the cooking process Alexandra uses banana leaves to cover the pan. Afterwards the leaves are used to keep the rice warm.
And as Alexandra likes to say:
“Every woman has to know the devil to know how to cook.”
Read here in the WEBER Nachrichtenblog the 6th part!
Fully equipped with hiking boots, functional clothing and a cap against the sun. Photo: © WEBER Packaging GmbH, 2019
My travel report
How long does it take for a coffee plant to bear cherries and thus produce a yield? Coffee plants need about five years before you can pick them for the first time. We were allowed to explore a whole farm of such plants cross-country! Five years ago, coffee farmer Andrés Quintanilla bought an old plantation and replanted it. About 25,000 coffee plants were planted and tended here. Now they are carrying the first cherries, which is of course a reason for Andrés to be happy!
We started our trip at an altitude of 1.200 meters and started at 30 degrees. With us were two advisors and the Foreman (the Foreman is the deputy of Andrés on the farm, which means he coordinates the work etc.) of the plantation. They explained to Andrés how to cut the plants in the best possible way to get the best possible yield. For us it was exciting to see what you can see in the plants. For example, you can see from the branches whether the last months were rainy months or dry months.
The dark areas grew during the dry months and the light ones during the rainy season. Photo: Noemi Gerhäusser for © WEBER Packaging GmbH, 2019
You can also compare the branches with the rings on trees, by which you can tell how old the plant is.
After we had visited the plantation for two hours and meanwhile we were quite exhausted, we reached our destination: the house of the Foreman. From there we drove back to the nursery and started to enter all shadow plants in tables. Why this is so important, I will explain in the following article!
Our way through the plantation. Photo: Noemi Gerhäusser for © WEBER Packaging GmbH, 2019
Read part 5 here in the WEBER Nachrichtenblog!
Photo: © WEBER Packaging GmbH, 2019
My travel report
A large part of the coffee produced by Andrés Quintanilla is exported to Germany. The company Amarella Trading, which is based in Mannheim, then sells the coffee to roasting companies or cafés that want to roast it themselves. To make this export possible, Andrés must register with the Ministry of Agriculture. Otherwise he would not be allowed to export. He must also register for production and processing at the mill. These registrations are important for statistics, for example. Every 15 days, Andrés has to submit a form to the Ministry, on which it is stated how much coffee has been harvested. If an export is imminent, this must also be registered. In addition, a certain amount of money has to be paid out of every sack of coffee sold, which can then be used for research into coffee plants, financing of trade fairs and marketing activities. For example, the Barista Championship held last weekend in San Salvador was financially supported.
The ministry also offers a small exhibition of insects living on coffee farms. Insects are an important part of coffee production. The insect world offers "good and bad bugs", as Andrés describes the situation. He explains that there is, for example, a red spider that eats the surface of the leaves and thus damages the whole plant. But in compensation for this, there are larger spiders living on the plantation that eat the red spiders and thus have a positive effect on the plant world.
In addition, many birds live on the farm, which also act as a "natural insecticide". One example is birds that feed on a certain type of grasshopper and thus prevent the grasshoppers from infesting the plants. Because of this coexistence of the animals, Andrés is able to avoid the use of sprays for the most part and thus produces untreated coffee.
When asked why he does not have his production certified organic, he laughs and asks the counter-question "Why should I? Certificates have to be bought anew every year and are extremely expensive. In addition, there are many farms that have some certificates but still do not act according to these values (e.g. in connection with child labour). Therefore it is important for him to show us that even without certificates it is possible to produce a good coffee (which certainly meets all the requirements of "organic coffee") by paying attention to the interaction of the animals, the vegetation and a sustainable water management.
Butterflies living on the plantation. Photo: Noemi Gerhäusser for © WEBER Packaging GmbH, 2019
Bees, flies and bugs... Photo: Noemi Gerhäusser for © WEBER Packaging GmbH, 2019
The El Salvador group: Maren, Andrés and me. Photo: Andrés Quintanilla for © WEBER Packaging GmbH, 2019
Coffee beans that have been eaten by beetles. Photo: Noemi Gerhäusser for © WEBER Packaging GmbH, 2019
Here you can see smaller beetles, which can nevertheless cause great damage. Photo: Noemi Gerhäusser for © WEBER Packaging GmbH, 2019
This is a collection of the various bugs that live on coffee plantations. Photo: Noemi Gerhäusser for © WEBER Packaging GmbH, 2019
In this box you can see dragonflies, walking leaves and butterflies. Photo: Noemi Gerhäusser for © WEBER Packaging GmbH, 2019
Another box with bugs and butterflies. Photo: Noemi Gerhäusser for © WEBER Packaging GmbH, 2019
Read part 4 here in the news blog!
Looking to the left past the Volcán de San Miguel. Photo: Noemi Gerhäusser for © WEBER Packaging GmbH, 2019
My travel report
Farmer Andrés Quintanilla – during which I am currently spending my stay in El Salvador - wanting to show us as many sides of his country as possible and to enable us to take perfect pictures, we drove up a mountain that is opposite a volcano. Here we should experience a beautiful sunset.
At this time of the year the sun already sets between 17:00 and 17:30. Therefore we started early from our eyes to watch this sunset. Our goal was to watch the sunset behind the Vulkan Chaparrastique.
Der Vulkan Chaparrastique. Foto: Noemi Gerhäusser für die © WEBER Packaging GmbH, 2019
Der Vulkan ist 2.129 Meter hoch und liegt im Departamento San Miguel, wo auch die sogenannte ‘nurseria’ (vglb. engl.: nursery) ist. Diese ist die Baumschule der Kaffeeplantage, in der die Kaffeepflanzen, Blumen und Früchte gezogen werden, um sie dann auf den Plantagen auszupflanzen.
Eine sogenannte Kaffeeschule. Foto: Noemi Gerhäusser für die © WEBER Packaging GmbH, 2019
Einzelne Stecklinge von Coffeapflanzen. Foto: Noemi Gerhäusser für die © WEBER Packaging GmbH, 2019
Nach einer sehr holprigen Auffahrt auf den Berg kamen wir auf einer Art Aussichtsplattform an, von der aus wir die perfekte Sicht auf einen wunderschönen Sonnenuntergang hatten. Neben dem Vulkan liegt ein riesiger Krater, der eine ehemalige Kaffeeplantage ist. Man konnte sogar noch kleine Gebäude zwischen den vielen Bäumen erkennen.
Sonnenuntergang im Departamento San Miguel. Foto: Noemi Gerhäusser für die © WEBER Packaging GmbH, 2019
Wie man auf den Bildern sieht, hat sich die Fahrt auf den Berg auf jeden Fall gelohnt!
Lesen Sie hier im Nachrichtenblog den 3. Teil!
How it all began. Photo: private
My travel report
Dear Readers,
In the next few weeks I will publish here in the WEBER news blog every two days on average individual articles about my stay on the coffee farm of Andrés Quintanilla in El Salvador. But... Andrés Qu…
I am Noemi Gerhäusser and I am studying Business Administration Food Management at the DHBW Heilbronn. My dual partner is WEBER Packaging GmbH. I am currently in the practical phase of my third semester. Each semester, my studies include a product group, which is then dealt with in more detail and deepened with excursions. One of these product groups includes coffee. Since we in the company obtain our coffee directly from the coffee farms (among others from El Salvador) and roast it ourselves, my interest was already aroused and I wanted to see for myself what is behind the drink, which many people can't do without.
At first I started to inform myself about the country El Salvador. Which animals live here, what is the infrastructure, which sights are there, what are typical dishes... After all this was clarified and the coffee farmer Andrés Quintanilla promised that I could come, I went to the travel agency! At short notice an already graduated student had contacted Dr. Schwarz and wanted to inform herself about the possibilities of a stay. Soon it was clear that we would make this trip as a couple.
So it happened that we would actually have started our adventure on January 15, 2019, but because of the strike at Frankfurt Airport we had to rebook on January 17.
An overview of the flight time. Screenshot: Noemi Gerhäusser for © WEBER Packaging GmbH, 2019
After almost 24 hours on the road, we arrived at our destination at 19.30 local time. Andrés picked us up directly at the airport and at home we were welcomed warmly by everybody. After a soup for refreshment we were so dead tired that we just fell into bed.
The view from our room in the house in San Salvador. Photo: Noemi Gerhäusser for © WEBER Packaging GmbH, 2019
A grey squirrel in our garden. Photo: Noemi Gerhäusser for © WEBER Packaging GmbH, 2019
Read the second part here in the news blog!
DHBW-Studentin Noemi Gerhäusser. Foto: © WEBER Packaging GmbH, 2018
As a DHBW student, Noemi Gerhäusser is completing her dual studies at WEBER Packaging GmbH.
Out of her own interest in topics such as coffee cultivation in Central America, she has currently taken the opportunity to do an internship abroad at our business partner - the coffee plantation La Buena Esperanza in El Salvador.
As part of the second project work (PA2) of her studies, she will be reporting regularly on her work and research results about Andres Quintanilla's adventurously accessible coffee farm in the Cacahuatique mountains here in this blog over the next six weeks.
Stay tuned - Read the 1st part here in the blog right now!
