Costa Rica Coffee Production

The Coffee Production Facts in Costa Rica

One of the finest coffees in the world is produced on the plantations of Costa Rica. Coffee production started here in 1779 and produces a body rich blend, with a fine mild taste which has a sharply acidic flavor. The environment of the high altitude at which the coffee plant is found, see’s an increase in acidity, whereas the low regions produce a coffee bean with a more indistinct taste. Coffee grown here has a high caffeine content and is often mixed with lower quality blends, because of it’s high quality.

The most famous area in Costa Rica for coffee plantations is in San Jose, in the Central Plateau. This is because the soil is rich with loam, made from volcanic ash and dust. The first coffee plants to be grown in Costa Rica originated from Ethiopia, but on its journey there saw cultivation first in Saudi Arabia, hence the Arabic coffee type.

Production in Costa Rica is a major source of revenue today, which has fast over taken tobacco, cocoa and sugar. Hence its importance to the Costa Rican National Economy. However, in the coffee plantations that surround the Greater Metropolitan Area, more and more are disappearing because of the increasing land prices which flavor the pockets of the elite.

Costa Rican coffee export is around 86% (most of which is to America) of the 1.5 million bags produced. This has dropped from the 2007 – 2008 harvest of nearly 1.9 million bags, but according to the Coffee Institute of Costa Rica (ICAFE), production is expected to rise 5% in the 2009 – 2010 produce.

Export source information: The Coffee Institute of Costa Rica (ICAFE)