Today we visited a palmito, or heart of palm, plantation on the Caribbean side of the country. It was fascinating to see the difference between the heart of palm and the coffee conditions. Coffee is grown at high altitudes with rich soil from the volcanoes. However, palm trees need warmer, much wetter climates in order to grow. This is why they thrive on the Caribbean side of the continental divide, where there is much more humidity and rain.

In general, the plantation seemed to be rather small-scale. They export to Europe and to the United States, yes, but the plantation we visited today was only 2 hectares. They generally seem to lack the resources and land to do a larger-scale operation. As far as my team’s subject of marketing goes, due to the nature of the farm, there isn’t much room for growth. The farm either exports or uses its products in the kitchen to feed the family and people. Without a bigger farm, I don’t see much of a way marketing would be helpful simply for selling. However, the farm could stand to do more with tourism, implementing larger tours that go further into the plantation. They could also work more with packaging and souvenir materials for tourists.

After, we headed back to Heredia to relax for a while and then go to a soccer game in Alajuela. I am writing this prior to the game, but I am excited to see what comes of it. It also rained here in Heredia for the first time since we began our trip, which is unusual for this region, but it was very peaceful.