COOCAFE, R.L

The document details the operations of Coocafe R.L., a cooperative uniting small coffee farmers in Costa Rica to access fair trade and eco-friendly markets in Europe and North America. It focuses on the Café Foresta brand, which charges a premium to fund sustainable development and reforestation through the Fundación Café Forestal. While successful in gaining market share in Germany, Holland, and Switzerland, Coocafe faces strategic dilemmas regarding its use of non-recyclable packaging and the fact that its coffee is not organic, potentially risking its 'environmentally friendly' image as consumer standards evolve.

• Coocafe R.L. serves as an administrative organization for small, poor coffee growers in Costa Rica, providing them with market power to obtain fair prices and supporting economic development in rural areas.
• The Café Foresta brand is marketed as an eco-friendly product, charging consumers an extra $1.00 per Kg. to fund reforestation and sustainable development projects.
• To ensure transparency and scientific rigor in its environmental projects, Coocafe established the Fundación Café Forestal, which by July 1994 had pledged over $53,000 to 14 community-based projects.
• Coocafe utilizes 'fair trade' seals, such as Max Havelaar and TransFair, which helped producers obtain twice the market price for coffee during a historic price low in 1993.
• Despite its eco-friendly branding, Café Foresta faces weaknesses including the use of non-recyclable laminate packaging and a production process that is not organic.
• Traditional coffee production in Costa Rica is associated with significant environmental damage, including heavy agrochemical use and water pollution from wet milling, which is estimated to cause 60% of all river water contamination in Central America.
• Coocafe's production model has a lower environmental impact than the traditional industry because its small-scale farmers use fewer agrochemicals and the cooperative employs water filtration and oxidizing lagoons in its milling process.
• The collapse of the International Coffee Agreement (ICA) in 1989 led to a plummet in world coffee prices, reinforcing Coocafe's strategy to export value-added products to developed nations.

APA

Saklad, H., & Diener, B. (1994). COOCAFE, R.L. World Resources Institute. https://pdf.wri.org/bell/case_1-56973-134-9_full_version_english.pdf

Chicago

Saklad, Hunter, and Betty Diener. COOCAFE, R.L. World Resources Institute, 1994. https://pdf.wri.org/bell/case_1-56973-134-9_full_version_english.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Saklad |first1=Hunter |last2=Diener |first2=Betty |title=COOCAFE, R.L |publisher=World Resources Institute |date=1994 |url=https://pdf.wri.org/bell/case_1-56973-134-9_full_version_english.pdf |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{saklad1994coocafe, author = {Saklad, Hunter and Diener, Betty}, title = {{COOCAFE, R.L}}, institution = {World Resources Institute}, year = {1994}, url = {https://pdf.wri.org/bell/case_1-56973-134-9_full_version_english.pdf}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }