Don Senel
An Epic Transition from Cattle to Coffee
Don Senel
With a plantation of over 80,000 coffee trees situated between 1,320 and 1,950 meters above sea level, in the under-explored Brunca region amidst oranges, lemons, and mandarins, don Senel’s unique farms can be found.
His curiosity for coffee began when he was 10 years old and planted his first trees on his father's land, which back in the days were only used for cattle.
As the years passed, Don Senel managed to gradually convince his father to plant more and more coffee and in 2014, they dared to process some batches by themselves and to their surprise the cupping results were fantastic, which motivated him to commence processing the coffee on his own.
In their first attempt, they only processed three 3 sacks of coffee, and as per 2024 he and his son Allan managed to process up to 500 sacks and aims for 800 in the near future.
He works with over 15 coffee varieties and has even invented unique drying processes, such as El Volcancito where he slowly dries the coffee with their skin in greenhouses, arranging in mounds shaped like small volcanoes.
Don Senel and his family are committed to social responsibility, reflected in the long-term relationships with some of his pickers who have worked with him for over 6 years now. These workers come from indigenous areas and others from the neighboring country of Nicaragua. The environment is also a priority and since 2014, they have achieved the elimination of herbicide use by implementing shade trees to improve the soil and increased pruning.
That is why at Planting Costa Rica, we place all our trust in Don Senel and his family because we admire the commitment and dedication they put into every coffee bean.