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The coffee industry associates Costa Rica with the invention of the Honey process. But the country has a lot more to offer. Costa Rica is a global leader in forest conservation, the first tropical country to reverse deforestation. It’s also been a supply chain with no middlemen since the 1960s, allowing producers to sell their own coffee. And that’s where today’s quality and innovation comes from. Let’s dig a little deeper.
From a dark past to a green future
Costa Rica hasn’t always been a tropical paradise. Between the 1940s and 1980s, half of the country’s forests had been chopped down for agriculture, including coffee. Farmers expanded to new regions as a railway was built and new roads opened. In Guanacaste, a 1922 law eliminated export taxes for those who farmed in the mountains. Plantations were encouraged to be fully exposed to the sun to boost productivity.
This changed in the 1990s, thanks to popular and economic pressures. Cutting trees from forests became illegal in 1996. The government also taxed fossil fuels to pay farmers to protect woodland. By 2019, the country had increased its forest cover from 40% to 60%. Today, more than 65% of farms grow coffee under the shade of trees. Costa Rica even won the Earthshot Prize from Prince William for solving global environmental issues.
Laws that protect coffee workers
Costa Rica has some of the strongest labour laws in Central America. Workers are typically formally employed and paid a national minimum wage. Part of their salary goes into social security. Even foreign workers from Panama and Nicaragua are protected. Compared to other origins, Costa Rican workers tend to earn more, work fewer hours, and have more opportunities to grow. Sounds good, right?
This kind of social protection is part of Costa Rica’s history. Coffee started as a colonial crop and oligarchs were the ones to benefit the most, like everywhere else. But campesinos were also given small plots of land and seeds to grow coffee. Besides the Turrialba region, where large estates dominated the landscape, most of the country saw a proliferation of small coffee farms.
60 years without middlemen
The Cold War affected the demand for Costa Rican coffee and led to conflicts between coffee processors and small producers. At this point, in 1933, the government began to regulate the sector to prevent abuses. But it was only in 1961 that the country’s supply chain started taking the shape it has today. That year, the Act 2762 or “Monge Law” was passed, eliminating intermediary buyers. So what changed?
For one, the government would no longer be involved in the international trade of coffee. But this also changed the role of processors. Instead of buying coffee cherries from farmers, mills were now service providers. They could process and deliver coffee, but they didn’t own it. Under the new law, mills could only get 9% of the sales price plus expenses, leaving farmers with more of the final price.
With more control over their sales, producers were incentivised to join forces and create cooperatives. More than 40% of Costa Rica’s farmers are members of an organisation today. A competitive private sector also encouraged quality, with more growers learning how to process.
The micro-mill fever
Demand for higher-quality coffee grew in the 2000s, and new micro-mills appeared. Costa Rica went from having a handful of traditional processors to more than 300 mills today. It was a fever, positioning Costa Rica to supply to a new micro-lot market and develop innovations along the way. One was the Honey process in its three variations, Yellow, Red, and Black.
Costa Rica remains a leader in quality and environmental practices. Controlled-released fertilisers were developed to stop the indiscriminate use of chemicals. The amount of water used in processing has been reduced to a fraction and treated. Some form of agroforestry system is adopted in 80% of coffee farms. In 2024, Costa Rica exported the world’s first batch of deforestation-free coffee.
Despite their successes, producers struggle. Currency fluctuation, volatile country differentials, debt, and intense competition from large multinationals are seasonal challenges. While some buyers avoid this origin based on price, we believe Costa Rica’s story should be a part of every roastery.
