Update on VMCT's contributions to Costa Rica's Coope Tarrazu

Jen Biro

The Tarrazu region is the only place in Costa Rica where coffee production is actually growing. Around 19,000 pickers come to the area during harvest time, of which 10,000 will pick for the Co-op. The Co-op provides nurseries agronomy support, training, and a whole host of services. Coffee pulp is converted into organic fertilizer, coffees trees are given to farmers to maintain crop health, and power for the offices is generated from solar panels. The Co-Op also owns businesses such as  gas stations , supermarkets, and veterinary clinics which   generate profits to the cooperative members at the end of the year. Because...

Read more

Coop Cafisur: Colombian Coffee

Craig Arseneau

Find the specialty taste of coffee grown in the Colombian Andes at Vail Mountain Coffee & Tea in Minturn, Colorado. A Word on Colombian coffee from Tolima, Colombia Nestled in southwestern Colombia is the department of Tolima, a region rich with a variety of mountain ranges, rivers, and valleys. In South of Tolima, there is the fertile and complex soil of volcanic origin. This region produces some of the finest coffee in all of Colombia, and the Cup of Excellence has often been awarded to local coffee farmers. By and large the region has been unable to develop a strategy...

Read more