La Amistad Estate processes and packages only coffee produced on its own organic plantations or on land owned by an association of organic producers. The founders of La Amistad donated this land to the families that make up the association when they homesteaded the region in the 1940s. The vision of our founders was that this was the way to forge a solid future based on the local community.

- Organic: La Amistad cultivates and processes only organic coffee. The processing plant is dedicated to 100% organic coffee. Organic agriculture uses no chemical pesticides or fertilizers and has low impact on the environment. As a result, our soils are soft and our fields and filled with life.

- Shade-grown: La Amistad Estate has developed an innovative system to combine the native species from surrounding primary (old-growth) forests with its plantation. The vast majority of La Amistad’s forests are preserved untouched, with a ratio of nine hectares of forest for every hectare in cultivation. In addition, the coffee is grown with shade plants that naturally produce nitrogen and improve the quality of both the soil and the coffee crop, while providing habitat for native fauna — birds, mammals and helpful insects. The high diversity of life in our plantations allows beneficial insects and birds to exercise biological control of pests, while our soil is constantly regenerated with nitrogen from shade plants, natural compost from pruning, and soil microorganisms and invertebrates that thrive in this healthy environment.