From January through March, Starbucks flew 800 partners (employees) from the U.S. and Canada to <a href="https://www.starbuckscoffeefarm.com/en/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Hacienda Alsacia</a> – <a href="https://coffeeexperiences.starbucks.com/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">the Starbucks research and development farm in Costa Rica</a>&nbsp;– to participate in the 2023 Origin Experience (OE) and immerse in the story of coffee.&nbsp;Two more Origin Experiences are planned for later this year in Indonesia and Rwanda, for international partners.

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The partners, all of them certified Coffee Masters, represent a variety of roles within the company, from barista to manufacturing to operations leaders. They&nbsp;met farmers, agronomists and exporters; planted coffee seeds and harvested coffee cherries; saw how coffee is grown and processed; and learned about the best practices that have consistently resulted in yields at Hacienda Alsacia that are 4 to 5 times the national average.

See what they experienced, through this photo essay, and hear from&nbsp;partners about what they’re taking away.

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“My hope is you’ll never look at a bean or a cup of coffee the same way again,” says Beth Ann Williamson, one of the OE guides, right before partners get off the bus at the Hacienda Alsacia Visitor Center. OE starts with – what else? – a tasting of coffee grown, processed and roasted on the farm. Partners then get guided tours of the Visitor Center, which recently celebrated its 5th anniversary, where they take in sweeping views of the farm and begin to learn about what coffee plants look like at different stages, and how it transforms from seed to cup.

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Carlos Mario Rodriguez, Starbucks head of global research and development, and <a href="https://stories.starbucks.com/stories/2023/on-international-womens-day-starbucks-celebrates-the-women-leading-the-way-in-the-coffee-business/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Sara Bogantes, agronomist</a>, explain the work being done to develop the next generation of coffee plants. Their job is to find and cultivate hybrids and varietals with the elusive combination of high yield, good taste and resistance to climate change and disease. Bogantes, a 4th generation coffee farmer, talks about the Starbucks core collection she manages – 617 different kinds of coffee available to farmers through Starbucks open-source agronomy initiative.&nbsp;

After lunch, underneath a big open-air tent on a soccer field, Victor Trejos, general manager of the farm, leads partners out to the Esperanza (hope) plot, named after his mother who passed three years ago, and named after the “hope and love you need to be a coffee farmer.” Partners plant seedlings into the ground, and decorate and personalize identification stakes next to each. “It was oddly emotional,“ says Josh Tesdall, a shift supervisor from St. Paul, Minnesota. “It feels like I contributed to my job in a way that I've never been able to before.”&nbsp;

Don Concho and Doña Maritza, two coffee harvesters, share their family’s story of migrating from Nicaragua and talk about the work of picking coffee cherries by hand. After learning it takes about 25 coffee cherries to make an espresso shot, partners team up and harvest ripe coffee cherries for the next half hour. They marvel at the physical labor needed to fill even the bottom of their baskets.&nbsp;&nbsp;

Partners don safety helmets and vests to tour the loud, vibrating three-story wet mill. They can see how the raw coffee cherries are washed and processed; how the skin, pulp and mucilage are removed; and how the beans are sorted into different grades. Some of the beans go to a large concrete drying pad and racks nearby. Others go to the adjacent dry mill where they’re tumbled in heat and prepped for shipping in large burlap coffee sacks. Trejos surprises each partner with their own burlap sack.&nbsp;&nbsp;

An hourlong drive away,&nbsp;partners meet Napoleon Chavez, 38, a smallholder farmer. About five years ago, his family coffee business was almost wiped out by coffee rust, a fungal disease. He restarted his farm with seedlings from&nbsp;Hacienda Alsacia and adopted Starbucks <a href="https://stories.starbucks.com/press/2020/cafe-practices-starbucks-approach-to-ethically-sourcing-coffee/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">C.A.F.E. Practices</a>.&nbsp;He’s since doubled his yield, and now runs a model farm, where he evangelizes ethical sourcing and sustainability solutions to others in his community.&nbsp;&nbsp;

Inside the coffee laboratory, partners practice cupping, the formal observation of the tastes and aromas of brewed coffee. Three cups are placed in front of each partner – a blind tasting of single-origin coffees from around the world. The conversation starts with the senses and how each coffee smells and reacts on the tongue after a big slurp. One sample elicits “tobacco,” “peppery” and “heavier mouthfeel.” Another is described as “sour,” “blueberries” and “juicy.” Other discussions follow. Is unripe banana a good or bad smell? What causes some coffee to taste like a band-aid, or a raw potato?&nbsp;&nbsp;

A tractor pulls a large trailer along a hilly ridge at about 5,000 feet elevation, past densely packed rows of coffee trees on the foothills of Poas, an active volcano. The tractor stops and partners walk up to an overlook, the highest point on the farm. Felipe Arbelaez Jaramillo, the manager of the Starbucks Colombia Farmer Support Center, introduces himself and talks about the role of the <a href="https://stories.starbucks.com/press/2018/starbucks-farmer-support-centers/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">10 FSCs around the world:</a> to help farmers improve crop quality and yield.&nbsp;&nbsp;

After learning about the <a href="https://stories.starbucks.com/stories/2023/the-starbucks-foundation-announces-grants-to-uplift-1-million-women-and-girls-in-coffee-growing-communities/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">work of The Starbucks Foundation in origin communities</a>, and a discussion around&nbsp;<a href="https://stories.starbucks.com/press/2020/cafe-practices-starbucks-approach-to-ethically-sourcing-coffee/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">C.A.F.E. Practices of ethical sourcing and sustainability</a>, partners are asked to gather their thoughts and prepare the stories they want to share when they get back home. It’s been a full, whirlwind schedule – back-to-back 13-hour days. Some want to lead a coffee tasting. Others build&nbsp;photo essays or write poems they plan to share with family members and co-workers back home.&nbsp;&nbsp;

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Starbucks Origin

Starbucks recently flew 800 partners (employees) from the U.S. and Canada to Hacienda Alsacia, our research and development farm in Costa Rica, to immerse in the story of coffee.

Costa Rica Origin Experience 2023

Stories to inspire and nurture the human spirit

Starbucks Stories

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As we look toward the next 50 years of Starbucks, we stand firmly in our aspiration of ensuring a sustainable future of coffee for all. We are <a href="https://stories.starbucks.com/stories/2020/this-earth-day-meet-some-of-the-people-working-to-make-coffee-sustainable/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">committed to sourcing coffee responsibly</a>, and as part of the company’s resource-positive aspiration, we recently announced <a href="https://stories.starbucks.com/stories/2021/starbucks-announces-coffee-specific-environmental-goals/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">coffee-specific environmental goals and strategies</a> to reduce carbon emissions and conserve and replenish water at origin. Now, customers can see that work in action through Starbucks new, immersive <a href="https://coffeeexperiences.starbucks.com/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Hacienda Alsacia virtual origin experience</a>.

Starbucks launched an all-new virtual experience that invites partners and customers to explore Hacienda Alsacia, the Starbucks Costa Rica-based coffee farm and global research and development hub where Starbucks experts are working to identify solutions for some of the biggest challenges facing farmers today.

Virtual visitors can choose their own tour guide for the interactive experience and explore the visitor center at their own pace as they stop by the nursery, learn about coffee harvesting, processing and drying, meet agronomist Carlos Mario Rodriguez and more. The virtual experience is available in eight closed caption languages including English, Spanish, French, Italian, German, Chinese (simplified), Japanese and Korean.

To access the Hacienda Alsacia virtual experience, visit <a href="https://coffeeexperiences.starbucks.com/">coffeeexperiences.starbucks.com</a> and click “Begin your Journey.”

Interactive experience lets visitors explore Hacienda Alsacia, the Starbucks Costa Rica-based coffee farm and global research and development hub.

Take a virtual trip to Starbucks coffee farm in Costa Rica

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Hacienda Alsacia

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