Coffee grows in highland valleys and on mountain slopes across much of Costa Rica, from the Central Valley around San José to the mountains near the Panamanian border.

Conflicts among growers, mills and exporters led to the creation of a public coffee institute in 1933. A 1961 law established reporting and pricing rules for mills and growers, a framework that still governs the industry.

From the 1950s through the 1980s, compact varieties and chemical inputs transformed farms, often alongside reduced shade. Later, falling prices, disease and urban expansion put pressure on growers and coffee land. Since the early 2000s, family and community micromills have multiplied, allowing growers to process and sell their coffee as distinct lots.

Harvesting depends on seasonal migrant workers. Nicaraguan workers once did much of this work; today many pickers are Ngäbe-Buglé people who cross from Panama each season. Erratic rain and labor shortages have contributed to crop losses.