- [Narrator] Pack your bags.
We are headed to a rugged,
beautiful country in Central America
known for its rainforests, beaches and wildlife,
and for its coffee.
We're headed to Costa Rica.
Located between Nicaragua and Panama,
the country is home to tens of thousands of coffee farms
including the only Starbucks-owned coffee farm in the world
which sits at the foot of the spectacular Poás Volcano.
It's called Hacienda Alsacia.
Beautiful, right?
The future of coffee is at a bit of a crossroads.
There are more coffee drinkers in the world than ever before
yet each year problems like climate change,
disease and diminishing natural resources
can make the business of coffee farming harder and harder.
(speaking Spanish)
- [Narrator] Starbucks purchased Hacienda Alsacia in 2013
to better understand these challenges
and to look for solutions.
Since then the farm has become
a hub of research and discovery.
Discoveries agronomist Carlos Mario
hopes will help coffee farmers all over the planet.
- Open source agronomy
is to really share information and seeds.
Sustainability is critical
to improve the living condition for the farmers.
- [Narrator] The farm has been putting
its own research to work,
developing agricultural practices that Victor,
the farm manager,
says have led to some impressive gains
in sustainability and productivity.
- From the beginning to now here in Hacienda Alsacia
we are saving four times the amount of water.
We are saving more than 50% the amount of power,
and then we have doubled the coffee production
here on the farm.
- [Narrator] One of the most interesting things
happening at Hacienda Alsacia
is on a plot of coffee trees
that has earned the nickname, El Paraiso.
On this plot,
Victor and his team are using
all sorts of new and interesting techniques
for everything from soil management to pruning,
and it's working.
The branches of the trees on El Paraiso
are so thick with cherries that farm manager Victor
says they look more like corn cobs than coffee trees.
- Corn cob.
(Victor laughing)
- [Narrator] Another interesting thing
happening at the farm is science, lots of science.
For years Carlos Mario has been working
to create new coffee tree hybrids
that are resistant to some of the devastating side effects
of climate change.
Like the deadly fungus coffee leaf rust.
He combines the strongest trees
with the most desirable characteristics
to create tough little seedlings
built for a changing future.
But what about other farms and other farmers?
Starbucks buys coffee from more than 400,000 farmers
in more than 30 countries.
(speaking Spanish)
- I'm the fourth generation of coffee growers.
So I feel lots of responsibility to keep going,
to keep the business going.
(speaking Spanish)
- [Narrator] It's kind of one big circle.
Hacienda Alsacia shares its agronomy research,
innovative farming practices
and disease resistant coffee seeds and trees
with farmers all over the world.
So their farms can be more productive and sustainable,
which means they can grow even more delicious coffee
for Starbucks to buy and for you to drink.
Which means coffee farmers have more money
to support their families and communities.
There's a sign at Hacienda Alsacia
that does a great job of summarizing what all of this means.
Starbucks and farmers all over the world
are working hard to ensure the sustainable future
of coffee for all.
(upbeat music)