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Growing coffee in the Zona de Los Santos is something very common which has been transmitted from family to family for years, since it is a good source of income for personal and family progress.

I was born on November 19, 1963 (Roger Ureña Hidalgo), by then my father already grew coffee something that my grandparents also did. Since I was a child I had to work helping my father in his dairy and coffee plantation, at the same time to complete my studies which I finished (high school). When I was 15, I started working in coffee industry using my own earnings making coffee seedbeds. That is when I started to grow my first coffee plantation.

In 1987 I went to the United States to work, make money and return to Costa Rica to enlarged my coffee plantations. But it was until four years ago, that I decided to process my own coffee setting up the micromill Santa Teresa.

The Santa Teresa farm, where the mill is located, was acquired about 7 years ago. We have planted varieties like: geisha, rume sudan, pacamara, Villalobos, Typica Mejorada, San Roque and already had catuaí coffee trees. The plantations go from 1900 m.a.s.l to 2050 m.a.s.l

This year's lot is a geisha in a honey process, which helps the best attributes of the coffee shine on the cup.  My eldest son Alex Ureña is the one who helps me with the mill and the farm. The farm and the mill are in the Blue Flag Costa Rican Program, and this is the third year that we started with the Neutral Carbon certification process, this to be hand in hand with the environment.

The cherries are collected by Panamanian families, who have been harvesting several years. On the other hand, the labor required for coffee plantations is carried out with the help of Nicaraguans and Costa Ricans, therefore, several families benefit from the business.