A Cooperative Built on Determination

They were tired of being at the mercy of large commercial buyers. They wanted control over their own product. They wanted fair prices. They wanted their families to thrive. Those first years were tough. They bought a small processing facility called El Progreso in the community of Pilangosta. But the roads were terrible. Getting coffee cherries from remote farms to the mill was nearly impossible. They pivoted: farmers would dry their coffee on-site and deliver it as parchment. Quality suffered. Prices dropped. It would have been easy to give up. But in 1978, everything changed. The upper Nicoya Peninsula was officially recognized as a coffee-growing zone. That meant access to credit. Technical assistance. Infrastructure improvements. By 1982, Coopepilangosta built a new processing facility with capacity for 10,000 bushels. Roads improved. They could receive fresh cherries again. Quality skyrocketed. In 1988, they joined forces with six other small cooperatives to form COOCAFE (Consortium of Cooperatives of Guanacaste, Montes de Oro, and Sarapiquí). Together, they gained market access, administrative capacity, and the ability to enter specialty coffee niches with premium prices. Today, Coopepilangosta processes coffee from 192 producer families across 246 hectares. It's still governed by cooperative principles: democratic decision-making, profit-sharing, community investment. Every bag of Matambú coffee represents dozens of small family farms. Real people. Real communities. Real traditions.

The Matambú Process

What makes Matambú coffee unique is the "Matambú Process"—a processing method that incorporates ancestral Chorotega techniques. It starts with selective harvesting. Only ripe cherries. Multiple passes through the same trees. Hand-picked at peak sweetness. Then comes controlled fermentation. The Chorotega people understood fermentation long before it became trendy in specialty coffee. Their ancient methods for fermenting maize and other crops informed how they approach coffee processing.

Coffee from a Blue Zone

There are only five places on Earth where people routinely live past 100—active, healthy, and vibrant well into their elder years. Okinawa, Japan. Sardinia, Italy. Loma Linda, California. Ikaria, Greece. And the Nicoya Peninsula in Costa Rica. More specifically: Matambú, an indigenous Chorotega territory tucked in the mountains of Hojancha, Guanacaste. It's the only indigenous territory in the world located within a Blue Zone. And it's the only Blue Zone in the world that grows specialty coffee. This is that coffee.

Community, Culture & Stewardship

Coopepilangosta isn't just processing coffee—they're supporting the Chorotega community. The cooperative works directly with the Matambú indigenous territory, employing Chorotega descendants as tour guides, processors, and baristas. They host educational tours where visitors learn about coffee cultivation, indigenous pottery-making, traditional cooking in wood-fired ovens, and the Blue Zone lifestyle. Women from Matambú run the Association of Women Entrepreneurs, meeting twice weekly to make traditional rosquillas (pastries) and tanelas in mud ovens, selling them at local markets to support their families. The Chorotega greeting captures their worldview: "In Lak' Ech" (I am the other you) "Hala Ken" (You are the other me) Their fingers intertwine in a snail shell pattern—the ongoing spiral of infinity, friendship that never ends. This philosophy extends to how they farm. Respect for Mother Earth. Apologies for any harm caused. Gratitude for what the land provides. Sustainable practices not because they're trendy, but because they're essential.