Costa Rica Government Responds to Coffee Industry Problems
Created: March 2014
Through the efforts of President Laura Chinchilla’s government, the farmers are about to be refinanced by government financial aid to the tune of US$40 million, or a total of nearly CRC$20 billion. The government will disperse the aid in the form of more low interest loans. Some farmers will now be able to replant their fields with the Obata coffee and service the debt. There is more encouraging news for the modernization of the industry and possibly new specie development. Here comes Starbucks to the rescue.
Help From Starbucks
Starbucks, a leading coffee merchant with retail outlets almost the world over, has recently established a 7.5-acre experimental plantation in Costa Rica on a ridge 4,500 feet above sea level. Starbuck’s business is coffee. Starbucks operate 20,000 stores that pour coffee all day, every day. Anything affecting their chief input is a major concern to them. The experimental plot is part of a 600-acre, Hacienda Alsacia, nursery, located in on the slopes of the Poás Volcano, in the National Park in Alajuela. The areas is generally referred to as the Central Valley, there they collectively produce nearly 50% of the country’s coffee. The property was purchased by Starbucks to experiment with cultivating the Obata, Et 47-P1, and Bourbon 2 varieties of coffee.
The plan is to cultivate a new specie to replace the dying Arabica. One of the test strains is called ‘Par1-Plan1’ a new coffee hybrid. Mr. Carlos Mario, an agronomist with many years experience in the industry, closely monitors the project. His new coffee strains may take anywhere from five to ten years to develop. Starbucks plans to share the knowledge gained and the new variety of coffee with the farmers of Costa Rica. The revival of a once thriving industry is now foreseeable. The new methods of cultivation and a hardier strain of berry will boost the industry again. This is great news for the people and the export potential of Cost Rica.
Coffee’s Importance to Business
The coffee industry in the USA generates over US$100 Billion in sales annually. Major players like McDonalds, Dunkin Donuts, and Starbucks, provide customers with their favorite brew on a daily basis. Their choice beans are Arabica, or a blend of Arabica and other coffees. The inferior Robusta is cultivated heavily in Viet Nam and Indonesia; it is harsher in taste, it is mixed with better quality beans to produce a nicer coffee at a lower price. The coffee rust disease that now endangers the Arabica and the expected lifespan of Arabica is only a few more decades at this current rate of destruction.
Hot premium Costa Rican coffee is always available at the Tiki Bar & Restaurant of the Blue River Resort and Hot Springs. The helpful staffs encourage visitors to sample the various brands of coffee here at the Resort. Tours from the resort to a plantation or other area of interest can be booked at our tour desk. The Blue River Resort & Hot Springs is an ideal place to begin discovering Costa Rica for an authentic vacation. With the Hotel serving as a ‘base’ the adventure begins, visitors explore the many eco-adventures and natural facilities of the region. Start with a soak in the hot hprings and wash cares away in the warm poola and under one of the blue river’s waterfalls which flow straight from the volcano.
Pura Vida
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