Costa Rica – ASOPROAAA

This exceptional coffee batch is nurtured and refined by ASOPROAAA, a group of dedicated producers who sustain quality control on their own farms. ASOPROAAA has striven to uphold its reputation for excellent coffee, expanding their offerings and expertise over the years.

The farms were originally owned by producers associated with ASOPROAAA. However, when an owner decided to sell the property for any reason, the organisation opted to preserve the plot, ensuring the continuity of their diverse coffee offerings and the meticulous quality control they had implemented over the years. This has led them to produce their own distinctive speciality coffee lots.

In total, they export 1500 quintals of coffee. The name of the organisation in abbreviations and the coffee processing method is carried through, ensuring the legacy of ASOPROAAA continues with the coffee.

The organisation owns 20 hectares of land, employs six people on a permanent basis, and expands to around 20 during the harvest season. The coffee is cultivated in a forested area at an altitude of 1700 meters above sea level. The system is agroforestry, including some fruit trees, yet predominantly featuring endemic forest trees of the Cedral region, providing shade. Chemical fertilisers are used, supplemented with foliar fertilisers and fungicides for disease resistance and prevention. Pruning is carried out annually where necessary, and harvesting occurs only at optimal maturity, facilitated by the high altitude of the farm. This usually takes place in January and February.

The coffee is transported from the farms at El Cedral, at 1700 meters above sea level, to a processing plant located in Potrerillos at an altitude of 900 meters above sea level. Here, the coffee can dry for 8 to 12 days in the sun-soaked patios, benefitting from excellent temperatures and solar light. ASOPROAAA employs three skilled individuals who oversee the beneficial processing and drying times at the plant, along with two more on the farm supervising fruit collection.

Once processed, the coffee is stored in special grain bags in a warehouse exclusively for coffee. Here it remains for at least four months before it is exported.

ASOPROAAA maintains a social housing project for at-risk individuals in conjunction with the Government of Costa Rica, providing housing solutions for those in dire need. On an environmental front, the group maintains five hectares of protected forest to contribute to oxygen production, water source protection, and offsetting carbon emissions.

The challenges faced by ASOPROAAA primarily concern the tight relationship between production costs and selling prices, causing motivation in the sector to waver. Furthermore, fluctuations in international coffee prices and the instability of the national currency against the US dollar generate uncertainty.

Looking to the future, the investment plans of ASOPROAAA involve purchasing more land to increase coffee production and cover costs. However, the focus always remains on producing and planting coffee varieties that maintain quality in the cup, increasing the quantity of coffee gathered from associated producers and expanding their client base.

In addition to coffee, the organisation produces sugar apple, avocado, and citrus fruits.

ASOPROAAA takes immense pride in their production process. All the coffee processed comes from farms that have been carefully monitored and studied over the years to ensure excellent maintenance of the coffee plants and good agricultural practices. There is always a focus on genetics that offer a great presence in the cup and quality in their lots. All coffee is processed using the most solar drying possible in the beneficial processes, favouring the environment by not using firewood or generating wastewater from the process.