After my past two weeks in Costa Rica, I have learned an abundant amount of information about the coffee industry. With regard to the supply chain of coffee, I can easily relate how my topic of logistics is applied to each step. Examining each of the coffee companies that I visited, I can take the…

Today we ended our coffee plantation visits with Coopedota, a cooperative structured coffee company. Coopedota unlike the other places we visited was more like a community. The business had a board of directors who appointed a general manager for to oversee the company. A cooperative means that company has members which in the coffee business…

Throughout my first week in Costa Rica and at the various coffee plantations I have visited, there was one aspect in common: all the companies exported at least some of their coffee to the United States. Some of the companies mentioned that they do not sell a lot of their coffee locally for reasons including…

Traveling down from the Monteverde Resort we were staying at this morning, we came to our next desination: Life Monteverde. Life Monteverde is the coffee farm located in the Monteverde area that has remained there for several years now. The information received from the workers at Monteverde was unlike any I had gotten so far…

The 6:30 am wake up call was worth it this morning because it meant I got to explore the beautiful cloud forest of Monteverde. As I toured the forest and at a lecture following the tour, I learned how this forest has been preserved and how Monteverde came to be in general. Foreigners and Quakers…

After staying in the areas of Costa Rica near San Jose and Heredia this past week, this morning I got to experience a 3 and a half hour ride down the coast of Costa Rica and up its mountains. On this journey to Monteverdie, I go to see what life outside of the cities in…

Although Costa Rica may be small and tend to lay on the independent side of the world, innovation in the world of technology is still reaching the country. When exploring Ventria’s University in San Jose, the specific new revolutions in the technology world were shown off by the managers of the school. In the University’s…

Cafe Britt from first sight of the huge gates we entered upon arrival was no sight for sore eyes. The company provided a unique and fun filled tour of its company with actors making corny jokes along the way. A dance performance entertained lunch and a dramatic stage scene including a mini car introduced all…

When learning about the history of Costa Rica, it is easy to soak up the information and leave it at that; however, asking questions about the history can help build a greater understaning of the country and its reasonings for its distinct actions that it has taken in the past.  My first question concerning the…

My first day in Costa Rica was a wonderful beginning. I surprisingly had not given much thought to what I expected when I arrived in Heredia. I imagined a city like place with stores lining the streets, some flowers surrounding houses, the sound of the Spanish language, and of course some coffee. The reality I…

With my previous knowledge of Costa Rica consisting of hearing about pretty beaches and the capital of San Jose, hearing that Costa Rica ranks second in the world for environmental sustainability leaves a lasting impression on me. Costa Rica’s ranking makes me view the country as impressive and stable. If the country is able to…