Jaguar Honey

10 years / 20,000 dollars to protect the Jaguars

Our Jaguar Honey comes from Tarrazú, known as Costa Rica’s coffee nursery, from where pioneers started exporting Costa-rican coffee to the world. Produced in Beneficio San Diego, the most modern and one of the top 3 largest coffee mills in Costa Rica, Jaguar Honey is, as mentioned in its name, a honey-processed coffee. 

In comparison with other processings, the water usage is very low. Due to a shorter fermentation period, the coffee acquires an acidity halfway between natural and washed coffees. Farmers produce coffees with some of the unique characteristics of natural processed coffee in less time and with lower risks of unexpected effects such as over-fermentation. In the honey process, the cherry skin is completely removed and only the mucilage is left on the parchment. A honey coffee bean has a lighter, more yellow honey color.

But Jaguar Honey is first and foremost a coffee with an environmental purpose: for every quintal of Jaguar Honey, Volcafe Select donates $1 to the Fundación Pro Zoológicos, (Fundazoo). Based in Costa-Rica, Fundazoo is a conservation nonprofit foundation that protects and promotes the natural biodiversity of Costa Rica. Responsible for several zoos and sanctuaries in the country, Fundazoo bases its work on three pillars: Research, Habitat Management and Education. Very active in the global scene, Fundazoo works - amongst others - hand in hand with the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN).

Our sister company in Costa Rica, Cafe Capris, has been supporting the Jaguar program of Fundazoo since 2010. Jaguars are an important but endangered specie in the ecosystem. They are a so called “umbrella specie”: its conservation ensures the protection of a large number of other species. Jaguars need a lot of space to live and migrate across Central and South America. Their migration is the source of their reproduction. Due to human developments, the migration routes of the jaguars have been severely disrupted. In addition, illegal hunting and deforestation have accelerated the reduction of the jaguar population in Costa Rica. Since the start of the project, Jaguar Honey helped raise $20,000 for the Jaguar program of Fundazoo.