As we continued our journey in Costa Rica, we visited Hacienda Doka and a strawberry farm. We scaled the side of a volcano to Hacienda Doka this morning. This coffee plantation exports 99% of their unroasted coffee beans to other countries (the number one country is the United States). There is only 1% of Doka’s coffee beans here in Costa Rica for sale, which I was astonished by. During our visit, we learned about the details and logistics behind growing, picking, and processing coffee beans. Coffee beans start out as a cherry of a coffee plant and they have multiple layers that are removed in the process. The fact that the coffee bean is inside so many layers can cause a lot of waste. Don’t worry, Doka uses all of their waste for other things. For example, they use the branches that they pruned off of the coffee trees and the parchment section of a cherry for fire material for their dryer (which can dry their coffee beans). After our tour we got to try their coffee and see more of the business analytics of the coffee industry. From my experience at Doka, I realized how much time and effort goes into one cup of coffee. There is more waste from a coffee plant cherry than the coffee bean itself. Not to mention it takes 3 years for a coffee plant to even be harvestable. The next time I have a cup of joe, I will be grateful for the effort the coffee farmers put in.
After our break for lunch, we traveled around the mountainous countryside of Costa Rica to a strawberry farm. When we arrived on the property I was taken aback by how MASSIVE this farm was. There were too many “greenhouses” to count. When we arrived, Costa Rica’s wet season greeted us with a rain, but it didn’t bother us too much because we were in strawberry wonderland! As our tour guide showed us around the farm he told us about how important it is to take care of the soil the strawberries grow in. In this tour we learned more about the different fruits they have and less of the process of how they sell them. This visit is easily my favorite part of the trip so far because we got to pick our own package of strawberries!
