El Salvador with location of our family coffee farms
ABOUT SANTA CRISTINA SPECIALTY COFFEES
Artisan agricultural practice passed through generations of Hernandez and Gonzalez families, bringing the highest quality Salvadoran coffee directly to Vienna, Austria. Also in close collaboration with other producers covering an exciting offering of coffee cultivars, processes and coffee regions.
OUR MISSION
To provide the highest quality green coffees in Europe for a collaborative, steady and positive impact to coffee communities at Origin, keeping social and environmental sustainability at heart.
Santa Cristina GmbH is owned and run by Salvadorans with a stable coffee farming tradition, with operations based in the capital city of Vienna (Austria), where we import and stock our coffees for the European and Asian markets.
The idea and foundation of Santa Cristina came from Eduardo Hernandez-Gonzalez, a member of two coffee families in El Salvador. Eduardo established Santa Cristina GmbH in 2014 to allow ease of import and direct trade of specialty green coffees from the five family-owned running farms in El Salvador, as well as other trusted coffee producers, and over a dozen farms/mills closely collaborating with Santa Cristina. Our Mission is to provide the highest quality green coffees in Europe for a collaborative, steady and positive impact to coffee communities at Origin, keeping social and environmental sustainability at heart.
The company is based in Austria for its great business infrastructure, in support of the booming coffee culture in the region, and to offer easy access to quality coffee for roasters and coffee shop owners throughout Europe. As foreign investors in Austria, Santa Cristina GmbH has established relations with the Viennese and Austrian business & investment agencies, the Chamber of Commerce and the Specialty Coffee Association (SCA), while offering direct trading as an integral tool to bring positive social and environmental impact and development to local economies at coffee Origin.
OUR HISTORY
The idea and foundation of Santa Cristina come from Eduardo Hernandez-Gonzalez, a member of a fourth generation artisan coffee growing family in El Salvador.
Promo Video – Santa Cristina Specialty Coffees 2020
The Hernandez family
Santa Lucia farm in the Santa Ana volcano (Apaneca / Ilamatepeq coffee region, Santa Ana Volcano / Western coffee belt) has been in the Hernandez family for over five generations. Benjamin Valiente (1880’s), his daughter Alicia Valiente-Hernandez, and now her son Rene Hernandez, have steadily managed the farm until now. In the past 15 years, Rene has expanded to neighbouring farms – San Francisco, San Lucas and Las Palmeras – with all coffee beans being wet-processed and dried on site.
The Gonzalez Family
Santa Cristina farm is located in the San Salvador volcano (El Balsamo / Quezaltepeq coffee region, San Salvador Volcano / Central belt) reaching over 1,200 metres above sea level. It was bought by Antonio Gonzalez B. during his tenure as a sugar cane & coffee export and processing manager, and passed over to his daughter Ana Cristina Gonzalez-Hernandez. It has been managed by the Gonzalez family for over 40 years.
Eduardo now involved in the family business with Santa Cristina GmbH directly importing these coffees into Europe.
“We are driven by the huge tasks and hardships that coffee farmers have to endure, as well as declining coffee market prices defining the livelihood of the coffee supply chain worldwide.”
Eduardo HernandezAs traceability and quality assurance of the beans are key components of direct relationships in coffee trading, we are committed to the proper management and handling of our product. Therefore, we are personally involved in the different productive, industrial and logistics stages of the supply chain – all the way to the moment of delivering coffee to our clients.
Established in 2014 and 70+ satisfied clients in 10 EU countries and China, Santa Cristina GmbH is the first and only Salvadoran-capital company founded in Austria. We look forward to fostering solid growth and establishing serious long-term direct-trade relationships with specialty coffee roasters in Europe and beyond.
