-Costa Rica envoy hosts a commemorative opening event
For the 2018 Coffee Expo Seoul(April 5th-8th, 2018, Coex Hall Seoul), The 2018 Guest Country is Costa Rica!
To celebrate its Guest Country participation, Costa Rica Amb.
Rodolf Solano Quiros hosted a commemorative opening
event in the morning on April 5th at Coex Hall Seoul
while envoys from Paraguay, Cote d'Ivoire and Cambodia
were on hand inclduing many invited guests.
According to the Embassy of Costa Rica, Costa Rica was
the first Central American country that established this
flourishing industry.
1720 is the coffee introduction date to the Americas,
when the Coffea Arábica specie,
Typica variety first seeds came to the Martinique island, in
The Antilles; and then were grown in the Costa Rica Province
at the end of the 18th century.
Coffee has been a fundamental pillar for Costa Rican society
and an engine of its economic, social and cultural development.
That’s why it has been correctly called, “The Golden Bean”.
Several factors favored the establishment of this “Golden
Coffee Bean”: lands where first
plantations were established are characterized by extremely
fertile and volcanic origin soils;
two seasons (dry and rainy); relatively uniform and favorable
temperatures along the year for the development of the coffee plant.
Why Costa Rican coffee, among the best?
Costa Rica has privileged lands, with natural and ideal
characteristics for coffee growing: fertile soils, rich in
minerals; excellent microclimates and altitudes in all eight
coffee growing regions. More than 80% of the coffee area
is located at an altitude between 800 and 1,600 meters, and
temperatures between 17° and 28 °C, with annual rainfall of between 2,000 and 3,000 millimeters.
Throughout the year, Producers keep a special and strict
care of their plantations, that is most evident during the
harvest period, which varies in all regions, according to
the climate and the plant’s blooming. Costa Rican coffee
is produced in plantations
with high iological diversity. They conserve resources,
protects the environment, produces effectively, competes
commercially and reinforces the quality of life of farmers
and society, as a whole.
Hundred per cent of our coffee is from the Arabica specie,
mainly from the Caturra (42%),
Catuaí (34%), Costa Rica 95 (9%), Veranero (5%), Venecia
(3%), Obatá (3%), which produce a higher quality bean
and a cup with better organoleptic characteristics:
pleasant, aromatic
and very fine. Since 1989, Robusta specie planting has
been prohibited by law in Costa Rica, because of lower cup quality.
Coffee is selective-manually picked in Costa Rica, which allows cherries
selection in optimum ripening state and health, providing
coffee Mills (ripe fruit processor) with a better material to
produce special beverages, very appreciated in the niches
of specialty coffee where consumers are willing to pay for
our high quality. A coffee fruit with good ripening
guarantees excellent roasting conditions, aroma and acidity
and a top quality flavor in the cup.
The coffee fruit is milled (processed) the same day of
harvesting to preserve the bean quality. The use of
innovative Milling methods in harmony with the environment
has allowed the coffee Sector to acquire new experiences in
the coffee industrialization. Concentrated in that quality,
Costa Ricans use avant-garde milling techniques that provide
greater quality
control, betting for more added value and, consequently,
better income. It is mandatory for all coffee milling plants
in Costa Rica, by law, to respect a series of conditions to
operate and protect the environment, regulated by the
Ministry of Health and the Environmental Technical Secretariat
of the Ministry of Environment, SETENA.
The coffee processing milling sanitary regulations demand
the utilization of very advanced
technology with less water usage. Most of the Mills exceed
the rates of purification and reduction of liquid use. In addition,
they take advantage of coffee by-products to produce organic fertilizer, livestock feed and fuel
to generate electricity for the bean drying, among other uses.