It's pretty special when a cooperative with amazing infrastructure built on collective efforts also has the ability to celebrate individuals within the organization. We are pleased to have a special natural processed micro-lot cultivated by Honorio Jimenez Vásquez and processed by one of our perennial partners, Cooperativa de Caficultores y de Servicios Múltiples de Palmares (Coopepalmares). With more than 1,400 producer-members from Palmares (a canton in the province of Alajuela), Coopepalmares has built a state-of-the-art processing facility with certifications in quality and environmental management from the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) utilizes recycled water and the mechanical dryers (guardiolas) recirculate airflow to maximize furnace efficiency. The facility also has an organic fertilizer production plant and a water treatment plant. In addition to exporting coffee, Coopepalmares operates two supermarkets and a hardware store in Palmares, and sells roasted coffee for national consumption. Cooperative members have access to low interest loans and healthcare for their families at the cooperative run health center and mobile clinic. But behind all this amazing infrastructure there are individuals like Honorio who have been producing coffee since the beginning when Coopepalmares first formed in 1962. Over the years with the support of his wife and 7 children, Honorio has established a 60-acre farm called Finca Cecilia. Every aspect of life here is placed in harmony with cultivating coffee including the location of the family home, which is perched on a crest from where you can see coffee trees cascading below in every direction. During the harvest, ripe cherry is dried on raised beds to 11 percent and Coopepalmares mills and exports the coffee.
