During the week of October 17th 2022, ECOM invited some of its largest banks and financial partners to spend a week in Costa Rica. The purpose was for them to discover our operations, discuss the group's commitment in terms of sustainability and climate strategy, and show them the work the SMS teams are doing on the ground with the farmers.

The ECOM team in Costa Rica, led by Eric Ponçon, Juan Diego Araya, and Benjamin Rimaud, put together a fantastic agenda for our guests who were truly impressed by the depth of ECOM's work with farming communities, including on subjects such as technical assistance, regenerative agriculture, agroforestry, crop improvements through the use of hybrid plants, fertilizer use, and farm innovations. 

Tomás Gutiérrez, the SMS lead for coffee in Costa Rica, and his team took us to visit partnering farms, Nespresso farm clusters, and an SMS managed farm where we were able to experience first-hand the work that ECOM has been doing with the farmers, and the innovations that are being implemented in the field in order to improve yields, reduce the impact of climate change and enhance the living conditions of the farming communities.

In addition, we visited INCAE, a leading business school with whom ECOM has been partnering for years on initiatives such as the Social Progress Index and biodiversity projects. 

Finally, our guests were also able to visit our beautiful office in San Jose and the adjacent wet mill, as well as taste some of the excellent coffee produced in Costa Rica and learn about specialty coffee from our experts, Eduardo Ureña and his team of amazing baristas. 

We believe that this trip will further strengthen our partnership with our financial institutions and will reinforce the positive image that they have of the ECOM group.

We would like to express our sincere appreciation and gratitude to the ECOM Costa Rica team for welcoming us and sharing with us their passion, dedication and vision for a sustainable coffee world. 

The team who organized this event contributed to making it a memorable experience for all our guests. Warmest thanks to: Eric Ponçon,  Juan Diego Araya,  María José Canales, Tómas Gutierrez,  Bryan Serrano,  Melissa Barrantes,  Maria Brenes,  Melany Cubero,  Marianela Montero,  Mariela Rodriguez,  Germán Guerrero,  Henry Vilchez,  Siviany Carvajal,  Joaquin Mendez,  Maria Román.  Elián Mendez,  Michael Padilla,  Samy Naïah,  Ruddy Azofeifa,  Ricardo Avendaño Chaves,  Eduardo Ureña,  Yuricsy Piedra,  Carolina Zamora,  Zaira Solano.