Costa Rica is a small country nestled in the heart of Central America. It’s probably most famous as a nature retreat for wealthy Americans, favoured for its stable government and relative safety compared some of its Central American neighbours.

Traditionally, coffee from Costa Rica was bulked and sold – however the higher production costs has made it impossible for the country to compete with neighbouring Nicaragua. Costa Rica has therefore turned its attention to the production of high quality micro lots as part of an effort to justify the higher sales price. This lot comes to us from a newly established project in the Western Valleys set up by a company called Coopro Naranjo and referred to as Estrella Naranjo (the star of Naranjo). This programme aims to identify quality coffee producers and the conditions required for quality and is open to any smallholder farmer who grows their coffee between 1,300-1,700 metres above sea level (as altitude is a key factor in producing quality coffee). It incorporates producers from six towns across the region of Naranjo; Lourdes, Sabanilla, Barranca, Cañuela, San Juanillo and Robles. Each area possesses a unique micro climate thanks to the mountainous terrain which creates different climatic environments for coffee to grow in.

Once a producer becomes integrated into the Estrella Naranjo programme, they are allocated an agronomist who will visit regularly and help advise on when to harvest their coffee along with other agricultural techniques to help them increase the quality and yield of their coffee. Once the coffee has been sold to a buyer, the producers will receive a bonus payment which is a quality differential and serves as an incentive to produce specialty grade coffee. We are really excited to be supporting this initiative which has produced some fantastic results in its first year and we are looking forward to seeing how it develops.