The History!

In order to truly know the importance of coffee today, then we must look to the past. Therefore, I felt that it was important to take note of the value that coffee has had on Costa Rica. Coffee came to Costa Rica in the 1770’s. Coffee production didn't begin until 1779 in the Meseta Central. This area was perfect because of the climate and soil. It was a slow process for coffee to become a dominate industry in Costa Rica, but it was bound to happen. Even though coffee isn't the largest Costa Rican export today (compared to bananas, textiles, and microchips), it is important to know that it once was during the 1800's. This was because at that time transportation of exports took a long period of time and coffee being a nonperishable good allowed Costa Rica to export more coffee. Coffee was one of the first goods to change the Costa Rican economy. It went from a small economy to that of growth and commercialization. From the 1840's to WWII the British were the number one purchaser of Costa Rican coffee. However, today the United States are the number one importer of Costa Rican coffee.

Something interesting to take note of coffee exportation is that coffee is a plantation crop and their income is affected by price fluctuations. This severely hurt the Costa Rican economy in the 1980's. In order to recover, Costa Rica teamed up with other Latin American countries to initiate a plan. Now, their coffee is sold in installments to insure price stability. It is also interesting that in 1994 Costa Rica diminished the tax on export coffee.

Information from: http://www.infocostarica.com/business/eco_coffee.html