Café Rico
Encyclopedia
Café Rico is a Puerto Rican
corporation
that manufactures coffee branded by the same name. The company's headquarters are located in Barrio San Antón
in the city of Ponce, Puerto Rico
, on Las Americas Avenue/Route 163 and Calle Comercio/Route 133. The company used to be called Cooperativa de Cafeteros (Coffee-growers Cooperative).
Its coffee has been reported to be Puerto Rico's best and its San Carlos Selection is said to have been the Vatican
's favorite coffee at one time. The company has the only coffee tasting lab and the only Certified Taster on the Island. The company has a partnership with Yauco Selecto Estate Coffee.
. It was the first agricultural cooperative union in Puerto Rico. One of its major goals when it was founded was become a major player in the coffee business by being not just the major grower of Puerto Rican coffee, but also its major manufacturer.
In July 2008, Puerto Rico Coffee Roaster purchased the Café Rico, Café Yaucono, and Café Rioja brands, thus acquiring about 60 percent of Puerto Rico's coffee market.
Sabanetas
in Ponce.
After closing down the 110000 square feet (10,219.3 m²) Avenida Las Americas plant in September of 2009, Puerto Rico Coffee Roasters is spending $8 million to reopen it again by December 2010. In so doing, it will be performing some 60% of the company's coffee roasting operations.
operations will move to Ponce. This will make the Las Americas location "the largest coffee roasting location in Puerto Rico" and the facility "the most modern coffee roasting facility in the Caribbean." Some of the products of the company are Decaff, Cafe Rico, 50/50, Yauco Selecto, and Yaucono Espresso.
is so large that its annual meetings, heavily attended by its members, requires a whole baseball stadium to carry it on. They take place at the Francisco Montaner Stadium
in Ponce.
Its past presidenst have been (to 1963):
Its current Board of Directors
is composed of:
Puerto Rico
Puerto Rico , officially the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico , is an unincorporated territory of the United States, located in the northeastern Caribbean, east of the Dominican Republic and west of both the United States Virgin Islands and the British Virgin Islands.Puerto Rico comprises an...
corporation
Corporation
A corporation is created under the laws of a state as a separate legal entity that has privileges and liabilities that are distinct from those of its members. There are many different forms of corporations, most of which are used to conduct business. Early corporations were established by charter...
that manufactures coffee branded by the same name. The company's headquarters are located in Barrio San Antón
San Antón
San Antón is one of the 31 barrios of the municipality of Ponce, Puerto Rico. Along with Canas Urbano, Machuelo Abajo, Magueyes Urbano, and Portugués Urbano, San Antón is one of the municipality's five originally rural barrios that are now also part of the urban zone of the city of Ponce. It is...
in the city of Ponce, Puerto Rico
Ponce, Puerto Rico
Ponce is both a city and a municipality in the southern part of Puerto Rico. The city is the seat of the municipal government.The city of Ponce, the fourth most populated in Puerto Rico, and the most populated outside of the San Juan metropolitan area, is named for Juan Ponce de León y Loayza, the...
, on Las Americas Avenue/Route 163 and Calle Comercio/Route 133. The company used to be called Cooperativa de Cafeteros (Coffee-growers Cooperative).
Its coffee has been reported to be Puerto Rico's best and its San Carlos Selection is said to have been the Vatican
Vatican City
Vatican City , or Vatican City State, in Italian officially Stato della Città del Vaticano , which translates literally as State of the City of the Vatican, is a landlocked sovereign city-state whose territory consists of a walled enclave within the city of Rome, Italy. It has an area of...
's favorite coffee at one time. The company has the only coffee tasting lab and the only Certified Taster on the Island. The company has a partnership with Yauco Selecto Estate Coffee.
History
Cooperativa de Cafeteros was founded in the 1930s. Its first administrator was Ramiro L. ColonRamiro L. Colon
Ramiro L. Colón , was the general manager of the Cooperativa de Cafeteros de Puerto Rico. He reorganized the company during its time of crisis and is credited with having saved the coffee industry in Puerto Rico.-Early years:...
. It was the first agricultural cooperative union in Puerto Rico. One of its major goals when it was founded was become a major player in the coffee business by being not just the major grower of Puerto Rican coffee, but also its major manufacturer.
In July 2008, Puerto Rico Coffee Roaster purchased the Café Rico, Café Yaucono, and Café Rioja brands, thus acquiring about 60 percent of Puerto Rico's coffee market.
Today
Today Cafe Rico is the coffee with highest sales in Puerto Rico. It is the only coffee packaged in a vacuum, a technique used to preserve the coffee's aroma. Annual 1965 sales are over $8 million dollars. The company has packaging plants in Ponce and San Juan. It has new corporate headquarters in BarrioBarrio
Barrio is a Spanish word meaning district or neighborhood.-Usage:In its formal usage in English, barrios are generally considered cohesive places, sharing, for example, a church and traditions such as feast days...
Sabanetas
Sabanetas
Sabanetas is one of the 31 barrios of the municipality of Ponce, Puerto Rico. Along with Magueyes, Tibes, Portugués, Monte Llano, Machuelo Arriba, Maragüez, and Cerrillos, Sabanetas is one of the municipality's eight rural interior barrios...
in Ponce.
After closing down the 110000 square feet (10,219.3 m²) Avenida Las Americas plant in September of 2009, Puerto Rico Coffee Roasters is spending $8 million to reopen it again by December 2010. In so doing, it will be performing some 60% of the company's coffee roasting operations.
Other activities
The company:- Has an egg packacaging sunbsiadiary, called Huevos Ricos.
- Has its own credit company
- Has its own insurance company, for insurance against hurricanes, earthquakes, liability, etc
- Publishes the only agricultural magazine in Puerto Rico
- It recently diversified into gasoline retailing, with outlets in Ponce, San Juan, and Mayaguez
Products
In July 2008, Puerto Rico Coffee Roaster acquired Cafe Rico as well as Cafe Yaucono and Cafe Rioja, which together account for some 60% of the coffee consumed in Puerto Rico. Cafe Rico stopped operations out of its Las Americas Avenue plant in Ponce in September 2008 but, in August 2010, Puerto Rico Coffee Roaster announced plans to invest $8 million USD to bring the plant back into operation. With the investment, its SanturceSanturce, San Juan, Puerto Rico
Santurce is a district of San Juan, Puerto Rico.-Summary:Santurce is one of the top ten most populated areas of the island holding Miramar, Loíza, Isla Grande, Barrio Obrero, and Condado as main cultural hot spots for art, music, cuisine, fashion, hotels, technology, multimedia, film, textile and...
operations will move to Ponce. This will make the Las Americas location "the largest coffee roasting location in Puerto Rico" and the facility "the most modern coffee roasting facility in the Caribbean." Some of the products of the company are Decaff, Cafe Rico, 50/50, Yauco Selecto, and Yaucono Espresso.
Sales volume
During fiscal year 1962-63 the total volume of the cooperative was $35 million dollars.Headquarters and warehouses
The central offices are in the city of Ponce. There are also branch offices in San Juan, Arecibo, Yauco, Mayaguez, San Sebastian, Utuado, Adjuntas, Jayuya, and Ciales.Federal relations
In the 1930s, the company had over $300,000 in escrow at the bank of Baltimore. It is an agricultural partner with the Federal Intermediate Credit Bank. It is a member of Federacion de Cooperativas de Estados Unidos, United Cooperatives, the Cooperative Grange League Federation, and the Pennsylvania Farm Bureau, the National Council for Farmer Cooperatives, and the American Institute for Cooperation.Economic outlook
The company has $10 million in resources, with reserves of $4 million dollars. Membership in the guildGuild
A guild is an association of craftsmen in a particular trade. The earliest types of guild were formed as confraternities of workers. They were organized in a manner something between a trade union, a cartel, and a secret society...
is so large that its annual meetings, heavily attended by its members, requires a whole baseball stadium to carry it on. They take place at the Francisco Montaner Stadium
Francisco Montaner Stadium
The Estadio Francisco Montaner is a multi-use stadium in Ponce, Puerto Rico. It is home to the Leones de Ponce team of the Puerto Rico Baseball League and FC Leones of the Puerto Rico Soccer League . The stadium has a capacity of 16,000 seats...
in Ponce.
Leadership
Its board of directors has 15 members, representaing all coffee districts in Puerto Rico.Its past presidenst have been (to 1963):
- Ernesto Lopez Ballester
- Dr. Francisco Sein
- Lcdo. Arsenio Martinez
- Leopoldo Santiago Carmona
- Fernando Luis Toro
- Andrés Grillasca SalasAndrés Grillasca SalasAndrés Grillasca Salas was a Puerto Rican politician and Mayor of Ponce, Puerto Rico from 1941 to 1956. He was born in the neighboring town of Adjuntas in 1888...
- Antonio Natali
- Juan Eugenio Mayoral
- Juan Bennazar
Its current Board of Directors
Board of directors
A board of directors is a body of elected or appointed members who jointly oversee the activities of a company or organization. Other names include board of governors, board of managers, board of regents, board of trustees, and board of visitors...
is composed of:
- Juan Eugenio Mayoral
- Angel A. Sanz
- Rafael Agostini
- Jorge Lucas P. Valdivieso
- Luis A. Becerra
- Damian Bennazar
- Ramon Lopez Soto
- Pablo Rodriguez Negron
- Delfin Rodriguez Carlo
- Antonio Oliver
- Jaime Luis Castañer
- Oreste Ramos
- Ramon Llobet
- Ismael Perez Matos