During our last two days in Costa Rica, we were able to tour a strawberry farm, enjoy a beautiful waterfall garden, and eat dinner at a restaurant with an amazing view up on top of a mountain. While touring the strawberry farm, we learned about the process of growing strawberries and then picked a basket of strawberries to eat. After the tour, visited the La Paz Waterfall Gardens where we saw sloths, toucans, jaguars, and monkeys. Then we walked down and saw a series of the most beautiful waterfalls. Lastly, that night we attended a futball match between Heredia and Alajuela.
During my time in Costa Rica, I have had many opportunities to examine the agricultural supply chains. I was able to see how companies sourced resources like labor, water, pesticides, and fertilizers. Additionally, I learned how farms usually source labor from Nicaragua or Panama because it is cheaper. Workers usually get paid around $2-5 per basket of coffee when they work in Costa Rica. Most workers also get benefits like free health care, housing, childcare, and cheap food. Plantations usually then source water from local streams or reservoirs and during the rainy season they use rainfall. Some farms will also create systems to help recapture gray water to then reuse to water their crops. Farms in Costa Rica also take different approaches to how much fertilizers they use. Big banana farms like Chiquita use considerable amounts of fertilizers and pesticides which have been causing their workers and the environment harm. In contrast, a family-oriented farm like Cafe Monteverde has taken the approach of using homemade fertilizers and pesticides. These homemade fertilizers are made of things like charcoal from old coffee trees, milk, sugar, water, and more which are all fermented together and then used on the plants. Therefore as a consumer, if I choose to go with a farm like Cafe Monteverde I can create a more sustainable world.
Sourcing also plays an interesting role in the processing mills and exporters that source water and technology. I have learned that certain farms like Doka, which is now a part of Cafe Britt, are trying to save water and therefore changing their old processes. Doka is accomplishing this by getting rid of their wet mill which uses a considerable amount of water. By doing this Doka will be able to decrease the amount of water they have to pipe, and therefore reduce their impact on the environment. Technology also plays an interesting part in how processors and exporters go about their practices. One type of technology that plays a very important role in these processes is the power that sources these mills. 99% of the energy that Costa Rica uses is renewable, so therefore many of the farm’s impacts on the environment are not as big as they would be in the U.S. Also, some companies like Doka use waste from one part of their coffee process as power for another part. This is done by using the husk of the coffee beans to power a furnace that can be used to dry them. Since the impact humans have on the environment is so detrimental, it is exciting to see how Costa Ricans are coming up with new ways to reduce their footprint.
The next step of the process is coffee roasters and retail stores. We learned how these businesses tend to source their beans from local farms or have their own farms that they can get beans from. Cafe Britt is a perfect example of this, as it has its own farms like Doka which it has recently purchased, as well as sourcing from local farmers. Workers are also an important part of this process. Many of the workers that Cafe Britt, Doka, or Cafe Monteverde source are local Costa Ricans who might have degrees in ecotourism. We also learned how Britt specifically moved up some of their retail workers to higher positions in the company because they like their corporate leaders to have good customer service skills.
The sourcing of customers is also pertinent to the success of companies. Companies are able to source customers through social media, tourist agencies, or through word of mouth. Tourists play a significant part in this type of sourcing, as many will go on tours with the companies and then buy their products. As a result, this will bring a significant amount of income. On each of these tours, I saw this firsthand when I was able to try each company’s product. I have also learned reputation is a very important part of sourcing customers. Whether that’s the packaging you have on your product or the known impact you might have on the environment.
