For our last day in Costa Rica, we first visited a strawberry farm in Sarapiquí. It was really fun to learn about how these farmers produce their strawberries, and we even got to pick some strawberries to take home! We then went to La Paz, where we saw more animals and beautiful waterfalls.

Throughout this experience, I have learned about how planning is related to all parts of the supply chain. At the top of the supply chain is the farm. Right now, the biggest challenge that farms are facing is climate change. For coffee trees, with the increasing temperatures, coffee cherries are ripening more quickly. This results in a smaller coffee cherry, which means that businesses are getting less coffee per cherry than they were in previous years. To combat this, farmers had to get creative in their planning. They decided to plant taller trees throughout the coffee plantations to create shade and therefore lower the temperature, which would slow the ripening process.

Next in the supply chain are the processing mills and exporters. Many of the companies we visited discussed how expensive using processing mills and exporters can be. Specifically with Sibö Chocolate, they explained that they will never be able to sell their products in the United States because the cost of exportation is too high. These companies had to put in much planning in order to lower these costs. The best course of action for them is to process all their products themselves and sell their products both in stores in Costa Rica and online so customers can still buy their products once they leave.

Then comes the coffee roasters and retail stores. We learned from the presentations that the cost of coffee is rising, so retail stores no longer want to buy as much as they used to. If businesses were to keep running the same way, they would not be able to lower the cost of their products and still be able to make a profit. So, their planning led them to decided that they needed to cut out as many “middle men” as possible. This means that they will pick, process, and roast all of their coffee themselves in order to lower expenses and be able to sell their coffee at a price that retail stores will pay for.

Finally, at the bottom of the supply chain is the customer. This is where the most important planning happens, because if customers do not want the product, the business will not make any money. We found that companies in Costa Rica put a lot of time and thinking into their packaging so that it is both sustainable and visually appealing. At Sibö, they use the outer shells of cacao beans to make the paper that is used for their chocolate boxes, and many other businesses do something similar. All of this decision making helps build these companies as having sustainable and quality products.

Looking back at everything we have done in the past two weeks, I feel that I have learned so much about business, engineering, history, and culture in Costa Rica. To end our day, we watched a local soccer game in Alajuela. Even though it was pouring rain and I lost my umbrella, we had a lot of fun and it was definitely one of my favorite parts of the trip. I am so glad that I got to experience this place with all of these amazing people. I hope that in the future, I will have the chance to visit again!