The advantages of a coop are simple: The more people you have, the more resources you have, the less dependent you are on one company, and the more viewpoints they have, the better chance of finding an efficient solution. The more resources maximizes outcome and intern profit. In an agreement such as a coop you can always count on people having the missing keys to your success. Also, if you have say 900 farmers working on the same project ,the less reliant you are on one group. If one family yields a bad crop or decides they want out, the entire business doesn’t fall apart. A coop provides more stability and a better network for coffee production than a traditional style. The more eyes you have on a project the more viewpoints the group has to identify what works, what doesn’t work, how to maximize their profit. The ideas in a traditional company spread vertically, top to bottom throughout the company. However, in a coop the ideas spread horizontally throughout the families in order to become the most efficient unit possible.

The only major disadvantage of a Coop rather than a tradicial coffee company is   communication. Communication could be the reason for braking a coop. In order to be a good Coop, the people involved need to have stellar communication. For example, when the Coop needs a big desicon to be made, or a reelection of the council, 900 families must travel from their homes to participate in a confress. Coordinating all that and executing it takes very long. With a tradecional company, decisions can be made over night. Even when everyone comes together, there will be plenty of arguing, and fighting for their own good which makes the decision making process so much longer. There is also a council of 12 people elected by the 90 to make the decisions for them. While it is certainly less people, the decision making process is still much slower than that of a traditionally run plant. The minimization of the disadvantages just previously stated will be the deciding factor on whether the Coop will be successful or not. 

Doca invests heavily in the community’s education and child care. There is both a school and nursery that Doca has a large part in financing and running. Not only do they give back to the community, I imagine that their comoany is the backbone of the local economy. It is reasonable to infer that without Dota, Santa María de Dota would be a very different and possibly barren place: they bring in so much revenue, dish out so much investments, and is the largest company in miles. Lastly, they bring in what Costa Ricans live off of: tourists! Many people come in from all around the world tp try Dota’s coffee and get an inside scoop on one of the more successful Coops in the country. People such as ourselves come into the town and decide to explore, eventually buying things from other stores and contributing to the local GDP!!

Like I said earlier, Dota invests heavily in the school right across the way. There is a partnership that Dota has with the local school that teaches the kids how to become a professional barista by the time they graduate. Like Carlos told us in his presentation, he was a product of this program! As soon as Carlos graduated from school, he had a job at one of the best coffee shops in the world. Café Privilegios is an amazing outreach to the community. The Café gives kids jobs (in turn strengthening public relations), and puts a great landmark for Santa María de Dota.