Santa Maria Estate dates back to 1848 when it was one of the first coffee farms to be established in El Salvador. In fact, the cultivation of coffee was introduced just two years before by the President of El Salvador & founder of this farm, Eugenio Aguilar. Prior to this, indigo was the primary export crop of El Salvador, but by the mid 1800’s it began to decline due to the invention of artificial dyes. Coffee production in El Salvador quickly took off and by the 1880’s coffee surpassed indigo as the leading export crop of El Salvador.

Today, Santa Maria Estate is still owned and operated by the Aguilar Family, now 6th generation coffee producers. Fernando Aguilar runs the farm, managing quality assurance and overseeing operations alongside the farm manager, Mauricio Leonardo. Mauricio has a long history with Santa Maria Estate, he worked his way through different parts of the production chain at the farm until he stepped into his current administrative position, a position he has held for the past 20 years. Santa Maria Estate regularly employs 45 people with that number growing threefold during harvesting seasons.

While coffee is the most prominent crop on Santa Maria Estate, they also grow jocote, oranges, pineapples, yucca, lemons & limes. There is also a 300 hectare tropical rainforest nestled inside the property. Santa Maria Estate partners with local forest rangers to take care of the plants & animals in this beautiful protected area.