Costa Rica Green Coffee Export Review

Article Summary 

• Known for eco-tourism and its organic and rainforest alliance coffee production  
• Modern specialty processing culture dominated by top quality honeys and naturals 
• Roughly 700,000 coffee farmers growing Fair Trade certified coffee 
• Produces approximately 1.3 million 60kg bags annually, less than 1% of total global production 
• Changing weather patterns make it difficult for producers to maintain steady income year after year  
• The country is highly mountainous which provides an array of microclimates for production. Three main coffee producing regions in the country 
• Caldera is a city on the western coast and is the busiest port in the country, a vital part of coffee supply chain logistics for exporters  

Costa Rica Export Overview 2026 

Well known for organic coffee production, eco-tourism, and modern processing culture dominated by top quality honeys and naturals, Costa Rica contributes a little over a million 60kg bags annually to the world’s volume of coffee, making up less than 1% of total annual global production.  Despite this, coffee remains a very important crop to the economy of the country with coffee exports valuing at over $422 million dollars in 2024.  

Export Stats 

In 2024 Costa Rica exported $422 million in coffee, ranking in the top 10 for exportable goods in the country and top three for agricultural exports. Most of the coffee exports went to the U.S ($137M), Belgium ($82.8M) and Switzerland ($71.6M), with the fastest growing market being Belgium. Between 2023 to 2024 the dollar value of green coffee exports grew 42.5M dollars. 

Costa Rica imports coffee from Honduras and Nicaragua in smaller quantities. Costa Rica imports coffees from neighboring countries because export revenue is too attractive for Costa Rican producers to pass up, leaving demand in the consumer market unfilled by domestic product. However, according to ICAFE, coffee imports from January to April of 2025 declined at a significant rate due to higher local coffee availability, along with higher international coffee prices. 

Production  

Fair Trade coffee has created quite the presence in Costa Rica, with over 70,000 farmers growing Fari Trade certified coffee. Organizations like Fairtrade International and Rainforest Alliance provide certifications for farmers hoping to obtain higher prices for their coffee. With these certification come annual fees and audits to ensure protocols are being followed.  These costs can be difficult for small producers to pay, and one solution to this problem is to become part of a cooperative that can share the fees and organize many small producers to contribute to larger lots that fall under this certification.  

Changing weather conditions increasingly impact growers in the country. While higher international prices are anticipated to help producers in the short term, they cannot make up for long-term financial losses under these conditions.  

Generally during harvest season workers migrate to different regions to pick coffee cherries. Climate change has caused higher concentrations in ripe coffee at the same time in different regions during harvest thus exacerbating problems associated with low labor supply.  

During the 2024/2025 harvest period, production was higher than anticipation at roughly 1.3 million 60kg bags. Abundant rain early in the year caused early flowering in most production regions and even advancing the development of some stages of fruit by almost 30 days earlier than expected. In the western central valley the experienced dry conditions that compromised the growth of the fruit.  

Growing regions  

Costa Rica is very mountainous with many volcanos in the northern portion of the country. Due to the high elevation, it allows lots of land with different microregions to grow high quality coffee. 

The West Valley is where some of the first coffee farmers settled during the 19th century and reaches up to 1600m in elevation. 

The volcano-rich, highly-populated Central Valley contains the capital city of San José. 

Tarrazu is located just south of the Central Valley, and has long been known for its coffee quality. The name has been marketed so well that some coffees from different regions will be fraudulently rebranded as Tarrazu to get higher price points. 

Brunca is in the southern region of the country, bordering Panama to the southeast, reaching an elevation of 1700m. It wasn’t until after World War II that Italian settlers started the region’s first coffee farms. In present day, the region relies almost entirely on coffee production with nearly 3,000 producers in the region.   

Cultivars 

Caturra and Catuai are commonly grown in Costa Rica, as are both Villalobos and Villa Sarchi locally adapted mutations. Each of these are dwarf trees, and Villa Sarchi is the pure arabica parent of the Sarchimor group of hybrids. 

ICAFE developed important locally adapted hybrids Costa Rica 95 and ICAFE 95, both of which are Catimors. 

Logistics 

At 19,000 square miles, Costa Rica is a smaller coffee production country. With substantial local infrastructure and generally stable politics and a supportive economy, it is not as difficult as it can be in some other countries to get to centralized processing sites and ports. 

There are three main coffee ports in Costa Rica: Caldera, Puerto Limon and Puerto Mion. Limon, on the Atlantic coast, is one of Costa Rica’s ‘middle cities’ and the port handles more freight yearly than any other port in the country; with most of the exports heading to U.S and Europe. Caldera is the main port on the Pacific side of the country located in the Puntarenas Province. Close to San Jose, the terminal is connected to major production, industrial, and agricultural centers near free trade zones.  

Royal Coffee Availability 

The earliest Costa Rican coffee arrivals can sometimes be seen in February in the United States, with substantial volumes usually arriving between April and July. 

Royal currently has good availability of Costa Rican coffee from trusted and long-term supply partners. Shipments are already scheduled out until 2027, be sure to speak with a trader to reserve your coffee today. In smaller boxes, a new release in our Crown Jewel line of an anaerobic Costa Rican has just arrived.