Café de Altura de San Ramón Especial

What Café de Altura de San Ramón Especial does

Café de Altura de San Ramón Especial S.A. is a Costa Rican specialty coffee company founded on August 24, 2004, by 570 coffee farmers from San Ramón, Alajuela. It operates as a farmer-owned cooperative aggregating approximately 3,800 producers across four growing regions (Occidente, Los Santos/Tarrazú, Valle Central, and Miramar), and runs a small core team of about 9 employees from its headquarters in San Ramón. The company's product portfolio spans single-origin traceable lots, including Café Onix (proprietary anaerobic fermentation), Reserva Especial Catador (Copey de Dota, 1900–2100m), Café Tucán (Tarrazú), Café el Poeta (Valle Occidental), Cafeturas (1,400+ smallholder families), and mission-driven lines such as Café Mujeres de Altura and the Edición Especial 20 Aniversario. Sub-brand programs Diamante de Altura (launched 2006) and Mujeres de Altura (launched 2022) anchor its specialty and impact positioning.

Technically, the company processes green coffee using multiple specialty methods — Washed, Red/Yellow/Black Honey, Full Natural, Honey Anaeróbico, Natural Anaeróbico, Doble Fermentación, and Maceración Carbónica — and maintains a dedicated anaerobic fermentation laboratory with proprietary in-house-developed equipment and techniques refined since 2013. Quality control is supported by certifications including Rainforest Alliance, Starbucks C.A.F.E. Practices, Bandera Azul, ISO 50001, Esencial Costa Rica, and Responsabilidad Social, with cupping scores reported at 85+ SCA points.

The business model combines three revenue streams: (i) one-time D2C e-commerce sales of roasted coffee through cafedealtura.cr at unit prices between $4.54 and $17.77, (ii) a recurring coffee subscription service with weekly, bi-weekly, or monthly cadence shipping to Costa Rica and worldwide, and (iii) B2B export of green and roasted coffee to international specialty roasters via FOB pricing with maritime and air shipping options. Distribution is enabled by partnerships with DHL Express (international) and Correos de Costa Rica Pymexpress (domestic), supplemented by a growing domestic retail point-of-sale network. Pricing is unit-based with optional subscription billing; no external institutional capital is evidenced.

Name

Café de Altura de San Ramón Especial

Legal name

Café de Altura de San Ramón Especial S.A.

Website

https://cafedealtura.cr

Company type

Private

Founded year

2004

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

Café de Altura de San Ramón Especial is a Costa Rican farmer-owned specialty coffee cooperative (founded 2004) aggregating ~3,800 producers, selling traceable single-origin and proprietary anaerobic-fermented roasted coffee through D2C e-commerce, subscriptions, and B2B export to international roasters.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Specialty Coffee

NAICS

Coffee and Tea Manufacturing (31192), Other Specialty Food Retailers (44529)

SIC

Beverages (2080)

akta.pro primary industry

Specialty Coffee & Tea Retail (Beans, Leaves, Accessories) (CRAHAGAI)

Keywords

• Specialty coffee production
• Coffee subscription service
• Coffee export wholesale
• Anaerobic fermentation coffee
• Costa Rican coffee beans

Headquarters

HQ city

San Ramón, Alajuela

HQ country

Costa Rica

HQ region

Latin America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B and B2C

Offering type

Hardware or Manufacturing

Cost components

Supply Chain, Operations, Personnel, Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales, Infrastructure

Revenue model

1. E-commerce Coffee Sales: Direct online sales of roasted coffee products to consumers through company website. Products sold in whole bean and ground formats in various weights (250g, 340g, 500g). One-time purchase model with prices ranging from $4.54 to $17.77 per product.
2. Coffee Subscription Service: Recurring monthly, bi-weekly or weekly coffee deliveries to subscribers. Freshly roasted coffee delivered to homes in Costa Rica and worldwide. Provides predictable recurring revenue and customer retention.
3. B2B Export Sales: Wholesale and export of green and roasted coffee to international markets. Ships globally with FOB pricing, offering maritime and air shipping options. Customizable packaging based on client preferences.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion3 records

Distribution channels5 records

Marketing channels6 records

Core offering

Café de Altura is a farmer-owned Costa Rican specialty coffee company that sources, processes, roasts, and sells high-altitude coffee beans from approximately 3,800 producers across four regions. The company sells its own branded single-origin and specialty coffee lines (Café Onix, Café el Poeta, Café Tucán, Reserva Especial Catador, Cafeturas, Café Mujeres de Altura, Diamante de Altura) directly to consumers via e-commerce and subscription, and to international buyers via B2B export using proprietary processing methods including anaerobic fermentation.

Product overview

Café de Altura de San Ramón Especial is a specialty coffee company founded in 2004 in San Ramón, Costa Rica, representing approximately 3,800 coffee producers across four regions (Occidente, Los Santos/Tarrazú, Valle Central, and Miramar). The company offers a portfolio of branded coffee products centered around its core line — Café Onix (anaerobic fermentation), Café el Poeta (Valle Occidental), Café Tucán (Tarrazú), Cafeturas (smallholder families), and Reserva Especial Catador (high-altitude Tarrazú) — supplemented by mission-driven sub-brands like Café Mujeres de Altura (women producers) and the Edición Especial 20 Aniversario. The Diamante de Altura program (launched 2006) represents a premium tier of single-origin, traceable micro-lots processed with diverse fermentation methods. All products are available as whole bean or ground. The company also operates a direct-to-consumer coffee subscription service (monthly, biweekly, or custom) delivering freshly roasted coffee to homes in Costa Rica and internationally. The offering is structured as a multi-brand, multi-origin product line with a B2C subscription layer, rather than a unified software platform.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Mujeres de Altura: A women empowerment program launched in 2022 to promote gender equality and economic empowerment among women coffee producers in Costa Rica. The program provides mentorship, technical assistance, and access to markets for women coffee growers.
• Diamante de Altura

Products and services

• Café Onix A premium specialty coffee processed using proprietary anaerobic fermentation, featuring fruity and sweet aroma, citrus/malic acidity, and creamy body. Available in 500 g packs at $17.77 in both Honey and Natural variants.
• Café el Poeta

Quantifiable outcome

• 85+ SCA points for specialty coffees
• +3 more outcomes

Named customers3 records

Segments5 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature4 records

Partnerships

Three partnerships are on record, tiered core.

• German Coffee Company (Unnamed)coreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2006Strategic alliance launched in 2006 to create the Diamante de Altura program - a high-specialty coffee initiative featuring single-origin coffees from La Joya, Tarrazú. The partnership established direct connections between buyers and producers with complete traceability, pioneering specialty coffee exports from Costa Rica.
• DHL ExpresscoreChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorInternational shipping partnership enabling worldwide delivery of Café de Altura products to consumers globally. DHL handles international package logistics for the e-commerce and subscription services.
• Correos de Costa Rica (Pymexpress)coreChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorDomestic shipping partnership for Costa Rica-wide delivery of coffee products. Enables efficient last-mile delivery within Costa Rica for both e-commerce and subscription customers.

Scale indicators8 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Direct peers

• Trade Coffee: Coffee subscription marketplace curating roasters for subscribers. Directly comparable in subscription model, single-origin positioning, and global e-commerce delivery.
• Verve Coffee Roasters: Specialty coffee roaster with farm-direct sourcing and DTC e-commerce. Comparable in single-origin specialty positioning, direct-trade relationships, and sustainability-led brand.
• Coopedota: Costa Rican coffee cooperative based in the Tarrazú region, owned by smallholder producers. Directly comparable due to cooperative ownership structure, Tarrazú origin overlap, specialty focus, and direct-trade export model.
• Intelligentsia Coffee: Specialty coffee roaster known for pioneering Direct Trade relationships. Comparable in single-origin specialty focus, B2B specialty wholesale, and education-driven brand.
• Counter Culture Coffee: US-based specialty coffee roaster with strong direct-trade and sustainability focus. Comparable in DTC e-commerce, transparency/traceability narrative, and B2B specialty wholesale.
• La Colombe Coffee Roasters: Specialty coffee roaster with strong DTC, subscription, and wholesale business. Comparable in subscription model, retail expansion, and specialty single-origin focus.
• Café Britt: Costa Rican specialty coffee brand with global retail and e-commerce presence. Most directly comparable peer given shared origin country, premium positioning, tourist-retail heritage, and export business model.

Emerging players

• Driftaway Coffee: Curated coffee subscription service emphasizing traceability and producer transparency. Comparable in subscription model, farm-to-cup transparency, and emerging-DTC specialty positioning.
• Heart Coffee Roasters: Specialty coffee roaster with direct-trade relationships and DTC presence. Comparable in single-origin specialty, direct-trade sourcing, and small-scale DTC e-commerce operations.

Broad incumbents

• Blue Bottle Coffee: Large DTC specialty coffee company with significant subscription and e-commerce presence. Comparable in single-origin positioning and DTC subscription, though much larger scale and broader geographic footprint.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Facebookfacebook.com/cafedealturaespecial
• Instagraminstagram.com/cafedealturadesanramon
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/caf%C3%A9-de-altura-de-san-ram%C3%B3n-especial

Compliance6 records

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Café de Altura de San Ramón Especial