CoopeAgri, Costa Rica

CoopeAgri is a farmer co-operative that was founded in 1962 in Perez Zeledon, Costa Rica. Beginning with 391 farmers in the region, the co-operative continued to grow rapidly into one of Costa Rica's largest mills. Today, there are over 10,000 co-op members, reaching more than 35,000 farmers of all sizes and accounting for 12% of all of Costa Rica's coffee producers.

Although the region has a rich history in agriculture, after the devastation of the 1948 Costa Rican Civil War, public infrastructure in the region was left in poor condition. Private companies with business interests in the region did little to improve Perez Zeledon's community prospects for recovery throughout the 1950s. It wasn’t until a group of generals acknowledged the needs of the region’s neglected coffee growers, who struggled to sell to broader markets, that things began to change. CoopeAgri was built on the aspirations of industrialising coffee as a form of economic recovery.

CoopeAgri has its own cupping lab to evaluate coffee quality for maintaining standards and identifying areas for improvement. They have their own commercial roasted brand that sells primarily within the local market, as well as a plant nursery that houses over a million young coffee plants of different varieties. Some of these are experimental trees used to test productivity and resilience to climate change, while others are more common varieties. This gives farmers access to renovate or replant their plots at a lower cost. CoopeAgri is structured to ensure holistic support for its members, making coffee a viable and sustainable crop for generations to come.

Through their certification and recognition as FairTrade, CoopeAgri has connected with the US and EU markets at trade shows and received global support, enabling the cooperative to vertically integrate into new business opportunities and be involved in wide-ranging social, agricultural, and environmental projects.

From providing medical services to workers, housing programmes, scholarship funds for students, educational programs, water recycling, waste purification, forestry protection programs, and organic fertilisers delivered freely to farmers—just to name a few. They've even expanded into other crops such as sugarcane and cocoa to diversify production and income.

Not only has CoopeAgri had an immeasurably profound impact on the society of the region and Costa Rican coffee at large, but the organisation also created a vastly streamlined coffee production. Members can receive consistent support and devote greater care and time to improving the quality of their coffee.