Costa Rica: A Coffee Nation

The coffee crop has played a major role in the history of Costa Rica, and continues to do so even today. It is safe to say that the country would not exist in the shape it does today were it not for the early coffee plantations. The profits and development that sprouted around the coffee industry have built roads, railroads, ports, towns and cities, in addition to empowering local farmers, their families, and merchants while elevating the economy and well-being of a new and growing nation. Even today, coffee is a major agricultural export, employs 85,000 Costa Rican & migrants in all stages of production, and is a source of pride (and great PR) for the little country.

But there is a darker side to the story – and I am not talking about the color of the roast. Issues around deforestation and organized crime cast a shadow over the industry while labor shortages, production costs, climate variations and the strength of the local currency against the US Dollar bring persistent headwinds. Costa Rica is producing half the coffee output that it produced in the early 1990s.

But, as we will see, the Costa Rican coffee industry has weathered ups and down for hundreds of years so the issues listed above are, proverbially, ‘nothing new under the sun’. Grab a hot cup of your favorite blend as we take a look at this fascinating industry and its role in shaping Costa Rica.

THE BEGINNING

The history of Costa Rica is invariably tied to coffee. Starting in 1779 the crop was planted along the hills and valleys of the country, the climate along the volcanic highlands being PERFECT for the coffee plants which were introduced here directly from Ethiopia. The government gave out plots of land to encourage coffee production. Starting in the 1800s, coffee crops became very important to the economy of the nation surpassing cocoa, tobacco and sugar crops in the 1830s. Coffee wealth transformed and modernized the country, giving the populace the income needed to ensure a high standard of living and ability to provide their children with proper education, often abroad in Europe.

Even today, coffee is a major cash crop, resulting in almost $400 million of economic activity every year and about 2% of Costa Rica’s total exports value. The industry goes through boom and bust cycles with annual production showing great variation from year to year. Currently, about 85,000 workers are employed in the sector – this includes work in the plantation, processing, packaging, transport and other related areas of the coffee industry.

COFFEE REGIONS

For such a small country, Costa Rica has a very rich variety of coffee growing regions. No fewer than eight major areas have been officially recognized. The main cluster is centered around the city of San Jose – and no wonder as the surroundings are home to several volcanoes and towering mountains of the Cordillera Central – PERFECT coffee habitat. Six of the eight coffee regions can be found in this small central grouping.

The two remining regions stretch over the top and bottom extremes of the nation. The Guanacaste region covers the northern mountains and high plateaus where a much dryer seasonal climate prevails – in contrast to the elevated areas of southern Brunca region where heavy rains falls pretty much year-round.

The best coffee is grown at between 1200 to 1700 meters – and all of Costa Rica’s eight coffee regions fall wholly or partly in this range. The Tarrazú region tops out at a very high 1900 meters while Guanacaste, Brunca, Valle Occidental and Turrialba reach down to 700 meters or lower. Because of the variance in altitudes and climates, Costa Rican coffee is very diverse in strength, aroma, body and flavors.

Tarrazú region produces the best coffee in Costa Rica, and many agree that it is also the best coffee in the world. The Geisha Coffee production started in 2012 in the area of Tarrazú and the local Geisha beans made the most expensive coffee sold by Starbucks in 48 of their stores in the United States.

THE OXCART

The brilliantly colorful and beautiful Costa Rican Oxcart, or Carreta, rose from its humble beginnings in the early 1800s to become one of the most striking and recognizable symbols of the country. In 2005 it was granted the coveted ‘Intangible Cultural Heritage‘ status by UNESCO. And it was coffee which drove the development of the Oxcart.

Simple, European-designed Oxcarts were initially used to transport workers to and from work and perform general farm chores. But soon after, starting in the mid-1800s, the expanding coffee trade pushed the Oxcarts to the limits – coffee needed to be transported between the Central Valley growing areas and the transportation links along the Pacific & Caribbean coasts, a journey of between 10 to 20 days. It was this tough journey which drove the evolution of the Oxcart’s wheel into the unique solid & spokeless design that resisted being bogged down by mud or vegetation and cemented the vehicle as pivotal to cultural and economic development of Costa Rica. Due to the weight of the coffee cargo, and to ease the loading and unloading burdens, the Oxcart was also made lighter, stronger and modified in design in order to better conform to its coffee-hauling requirements.

The tradition of painting the Oxcarts was born in the early 1900s in the town of Sarchi, at the Joaquin Chaverri Oxcart Factory. It is said that a local craftsman who owned the factory, Joaquin Chaverry, used the Oxcart to take his family on Sunday drives. He wanted his family to travel in style so he started to decorate the Oxcart in various designs. As orange was the only paint available in the town, those designs were originally made in orange – and while, soon after, other colors were used as the tradition took hold, even to this day the color orange is the predominant color to be associated with the Costa Rican Oxcarts (and the bull harnesses which are equally decorative). In the past, and even today, the Oxcart is a symbol of skill, wealth and status – the more intricate, colorful and striking the design, the greater the apparent wealth and well-being of the family.

CAMINO DE COSTA RICA

A great way to experience Costa Rica and touch on the country’s coffee heritage is a stroll down the 280km trail called ‘Camino de Costa Rica‘, or ‘Costa Rica Trail’. This trail cuts across the entire country from the Pacific coast near Quepos to the Caribbean coast near Parismena. Along the way hikers experience lowland jungles, montane forests, hills & mountains, volcanoes, indigenous lands and, of course, coffee plantations of the Los Santos coffee region, including the famous Tarrazú.

ENVIRONMENTAL CONCERNS

As with any other primary industry, environmental issues are many and they are very diverse, reaching into every stage of cultivation and production. We will take a look at problems (and solutions) around Deforestation, Plantation Waste, River & Biowaste Pollution, Single-Use Coffee Pods, and Single-Use Coffee Cups.

• DEFORESTATION

While the national coffee industry started in 1779, the initial development and environmental impacts were slow and not too significant. The ideal coffee habitats were the rich soils along the higher-elevation slopes of volcanoes such as Poás, Tarrazú, Barva and Irazú. However, with the commencement of the export boom in he 1830s, this all changed – the Central Valley experienced increasing deforestation as the plantations expanded into the countryside. Pristine and very vulnerable Central Valley Montane & Cloud Forests were felled to clear land for the ever-expanding coffee farms – this continued into recent times and even to this day.

Recently, through actions of the Costa Rican Coffee Institute and Costa Rica United States Foundation for Development, Costa Rica has launched an innovative ‘Coffee+, Zero Deforestation‘ (Café Plus) program. The aims of the program are to ensure that Costa Rican coffee production does not contribute to deforestation. The program acts via ensuring compliance that law is followed (including the European Green Deal), provision of technological assistance to manage sustainability, and a payment/reward mechanism for compliance. The program directly benefits over 2,678 coffee producers, 304 coffee mills, and 93 exporting companies. It also prioritizes the inclusion of women and young people in all phases of the project.

The first batch of the ‘Coffee+, Zero Deforestation‘  was exported to Italy in March of 2024.

The Rainforest Alliance is another body which looks after participating farms. Rainforest Alliance certification involves meeting rigorous standards that cover various aspects of coffee production, including soil health, water conservation, wildlife protection, and fair treatment of workers. They are involved in all aspects of production, consumption and disposal.

• PLANTATION SANITATION

Coffee plantations can cover huge areas and, at times, it may not be feasible for workers to travel a great distance to the nearest toilet facilities. Because of this, there can be issues associated with sanitation around certain local coffee plantations. Surface and ground water can become contaminated and cause serious issues downstream.

The Sustainable Sanitation Alliance (SuSanA) is a global network of individuals and organizations dedicated to advancing sustainable sanitation practices. In Costa Rica, SuSanA is leading a drive to install special Urine Diversion Dehydration Toilets (UDDT – dry toilets) in many places where they are needed, like large coffee plantations. Dry toilets help manage human waste without the need for water – so water pollution issues are mitigated on the spot. They also produce compost that can be used to enrich the soil, promoting sustainable agricultural practices. This approach not only improves sanitation but also contributes to the overall sustainability of coffee farming in Costa Rica.

• PLANTATION BIOWASTE

Not many people are aware that about 60% of the coffee bean, before it is processed, consists of chemicals which are highly toxic to wildlife and even people. During initial coffee bean processing theses chemicals were (and in many cases still are) released into the local rivers where they poison animals (each 1 kilogram of ground coffee is responsible for about 100 kilos of production waste). In addition, as the organic waste ferments and decomposes it starves the rivers and waters of dissolved oxygen, which is often catastrophic to animals like fish and shrimps. While the practice of simply dumping processing waste into rivers and waterways has been greatly reduced, it does still happen. Currently, the University of Costa Rica is running a trial that composts coffee waste into fertilizer and natural gas. Another Costa Rican trial saw 30 dump trucks’ worth of coffee pulp spread in a rainforest to aid in its regeneration.

• SPENT COFFEE GROUNDS

Used coffee grounds accumulate very quickly – and most end up taking up valuable real estate in the local rubbish dump. But as I have witnessed lately, many businesses and individuals are increasingly diverting the used grounds to their compost heaps. Coffee grounds are especially helpful to Rhododendrons, Azaleas, Roses, all kinds of indoor pot plants, and especially nightshades such as tomatoes, potatoes, capsicums, eggplants and peppers.

Another recent innovation is converting the grounds into fuel – for example, a company called Bio-Bean is currently collecting grounds to manufacture firelogs which are carbon-neutral energy sources for heating or cooking.

• SINGLE-USE COFFEE PODS

Over the last decade single-use coffee pods became popular due to their ease of use and convenience, variety of flavours, effective movie-star advertising, and even conspicuous consumption elements – as some pods and machines became status symbols for individuals and companies who proudly pleaced them in public and employee-only areas of their facilities.

However, as with anything ‘single use’, the coffee pods bring with them alarming environmental costs. Most cannot be recycled because many pods mix metals, plastic and organic (spent coffee) elements that are not easily (economically) separated. Some brands offer compostable pods, which is a start, but the vast majority of pods will end up spending decades or more slowly disintegrating into nano plastics in the local landfill.

Often one company’s pods are not compatible with another’s machines. This lack of standardization makes it especially hard to develop economical recycling schemes or a consistent industry-wide approach to waste minimization. The entire coffee-pod industry just seems like an initially promising but very badly executed idea (from an environmental standpoint).

• SINGLE-USE PAPER CUPS

A paper coffee cup is really a plastic cup – the paper is either mixed with plastics, or carries an inner plastic lining. So just like the pods, the cups are not easily recycled and most – in fact 99.8% – of single use paper cups end up in the landfill, shedding microplastics for generations.

Increasingly, people are being nudged to carry reusable coffee cups – often they receive discounts or initial free coffees for using the reusable cups. Organizations like the rainforest Alliance also certify recyclable or compostable single use cups. However each year around 120 BILLION single use paper cups are used for coffee consumption around the world. I will leave this at that.

OTHER CONCERNS

• LABOUR

It can sometimes be tough to find plantation workers, especially in areas that may be isolated or under-populated. Specific concerns arise when area Costa Ricans migrate to the US and support the local economy via remittance payments. In those cases there may be very few locals available or willing to work the long, tough hours in scorching sun or pouring rains, especially for low pay. In those cases, migrants from countries like Nicaragua are employed in the seasonal harvests – however in 2025 the Nicaraguan government made it much harder for seasonal workers to come to Costa Rica. Due to this development, as much as 15% of the 2025 coffee crop may remain unharvested.

This developing crisis is causing labor rates to rise, which is beginning to threaten the profitability and sustainability of many coffee farmers. The offered wages for coffee plantation work are now sometimes twice as high as the government mandated rates.

Children often worked on family farms or large estates – this was a norm not only in Costa Rica, but all over the world. As time went on, formal education was encouraged and anti child-labor laws were enacted. And child labor has fallen dramatically, however it has not fallen to zero – children are still found to be working out in the fields, and the government is, thankfully, taking a serious approach to mitigating this issue.

• EXCHANGE RATE

With coffee being priced in USD, the recent currency movements have a very negative effect on coffee farmers. Just over 2 years ago, one dollar equaled nearly 700 Colones; today it only buys 500 colones. So the farmers are facing a nearly 30% decrease in revenue.  Investment is drying up, as is innovation and expansion of the industry. The strength of the CRC rate is hurting many sectors of Costa Rica including most exports and tourism – while imports are becoming relatively cheaper, including imported coffee.

For coffee growers, the skyrocketing coffee prices have somewhat cushioned the exchange rate impact – however this is little consolation as they should be reeling in the profits of record-high coffee prices instead of shaking their heads at the exchange rates and labor costs.

• CLIMATE

The ever-changing ebbs and flows of out climate including dozens of various short, medium and long-term temperature & rainfall cycles, as well as elements of human-induced warming, are a concern. For example, the unseasonal rains of December 2024 have caused significant crop loss as coffee beans fell from the plants and spoiled. Rains are becoming less reliable and droughts are becoming more common and more severe, as evidenced by reports from many of the country’s coffee growers.

However the complex and nearly unpredictable climate variations are causing farmers to become more resilient – for example some are planting fruit trees in-between coffee rows. The trees provide shade, slowing down soil moisture loss. Their leaves also fall to provide natural rejuvenating fertilizer. Water-saving drip irrigation systems are also becoming more popular, replacing the standard water-wasting methods. As farmers adapt, the impact of climate variations will greatly lessen.

UPS AND DOWN, BUT OUR COFFEE INDISTRY IS HERE TO STAY

Just like any primary industry, coffee is subject to the whims of supply/demand, production and labor costs, the weather, and many other factors. But despite the challenges, one thing is for sure: the world’s thirst for coffee is only increasing, and Costa Rica produces the best coffee in the world. So we can all be sure that the mountainous coffee fields and beautifully packaged, delicious Costa Rican coffee are not going anywhere – and things are looking up and looking bright.

DO YOU FANCY BECOMING A COFFEE FARMER?

RE/MAX We Sell Paradise is currently listing a number of coffee farms for sale –

• 26-acre coffee & fruit farm located near San Isidro
• 14-acre coffee & fruit farm located bear Uvita
• 41-acre coffee farm located between San Isidro & Buenos Aires

These farms are located in the highlands and mountains straddling the central spine – the views are breathtaking and the coffee beans are world-class. With the global thirst for a morning coffee growing year-on-year, these are potentially gold-mine types of investments!

We have the BEST coffee in the world – and amazing coffee plantations are scattered all over central Costa Rica – many of which offer tours and tastings. The country truly is a coffee lover’s paradise! Imagine living in a beautiful, tropical land where each day brings an explosion of new tastes and wonder – you can make this dream a reality much quicker than you think! Take the first step by browsing our local property listings here. RE/MAX WE SELL PARADISE is your trusted partner in this land of exotic and tropical culinary delights – we are waiting for your call!

COVER: Mural “Allegory of Coffee and Bananas” (1897), by the Italian Aleardo Villa (1865-1906), painted in the National Theater of Costa Rica. c/o Aleardo Villa, wikicommons.