Coop Victoria and a... Metal Church?
Trip Start
Jan 24, 2012
1
4
9
Trip End
Jan 28, 2012
Grecia, Province of Alajuela, Costa Rica
Wednesday, January 25, 2012
I got in late Tuesday night, and Audra even later. Still, breakfast started at 6:30am on Wednesday. Having arrived in Costa Rica at night, the beauty of the tropical greenery, birds singing, and the sun rising over the hills were worth waking up to. Our Global Coffee Authority team have packed our days with activities, and warned us they would be running us ragged from dawn to dusk. True to their word, our first full day with the Origin trip in Costa Rica was overwhelming and wonderful all at the same time.
The group gathered at 7:30am with a ritual coffee tasting, introduction on the importance and purpose of this journey, and a fun ice-breaker activity to create the world's largest "wordle". Then, we were on to the 4 mini-buses where bus-mates for the week built camaraderie for the next hour-long ride.
Our first step onto a coffee farm was at Victoria Cooperative. Here, Starbucks negotiated use of a plot of land just for our agricultural research for the Farmer Support Center. We were introduced to rows of experimental varietals of coffee plants, the results of their production and bean quality tracked for at least six generations. Considering coffee seedlings produce seeds (coffee beans) after 3 to 4 years, it will take up to 24 years to see the results of agricultural research initiated today. And that research is ongoing.
With headsets to hear Carlos Mario Rodriquez talk in the fields, we became immersed in the language of our Agronomy Director of the Farmer Support Center. For example, Costa Rica only grows caturra and catuaí varieties. Mundo Novo variety, which prospers in Brazil, cannot survive in Costa Rica. The greatest risks our coffee seedlings face are fungus and root worms. Carlos helped us identify unhealthy plants, which are weeded out, and understand benefits of grafting Arabica plants (quality beans) onto Robusta roots (more resistant to worms). Like the Holy Grail, Starbucks agronomists are in search of the dream varietal: it would be ecologically sustainable, resistant to pests and fungus, grow in many regions, and produce more and better quality coffee beans.
En route to our next stop, we passed through the town Grecia, and saw the most curious site: a catholic church made of steel. A national heritage site, the metallic church is a symbol of late nineteenth century freedom from Spain, when Costa Rica turned to trade with other European nations.
