Rainforest Alliance

Rainforest Alliance Certification

In 2001, Distant Lands Hacienda Rio Negro became the first coffee farm in Costa Rica to earn Rainforest Alliance certification. Shortly thereafter, our Hacienda La Minita farm earned Rainforest Alliance certification, and our coffee mills in Costa Rica and Colombia were Chain of Custody certified to sell coffee from Rainforest Alliance Certified™ farms.

Healthy land and water systems directly influence coffee quality. The Rainforest Alliance Certified™ seal helps guarantee that strict environmental and social standards have been met in the production of these coffees. Our farms and mills are audited annually, and we continue to meet or exceed those standards.

Stewardship

We do not use any herbicides or insecticides. All weed cleaning is done by hand. We test the soil on the entire farm twice a year, and design our soil enrichment formulas accordingly. Fertilizer is applied sparingly in order to keep the soil in proper harmony.

Terraced coffee groves, planting natural vegetation, and an intricate and carefully maintained drainage system all help guard against erosion. Natural forest is designed within the shade-covered coffee groves–a bird, mammal, or insect can travel virtually the entire farm without leaving the cover of their natural environment.

Both Hacienda La Minita and Hacienda Rio Negro maintain 200-acre old growth forest reserves that will never be brought into cultivation.

Our green coffee trading division, La Minita, shares Distant Lands water and land stewardship practices with coffee growers around the world. Each year, we increase the volume of coffees we process from Rainforest Alliance Certified farms.