Essential News

San Carlos, Costa Rica. December 09, 2022. Pur Cacao, a French company that processes cocoa seeds to export paste for chocolate-making, has inaugurated its first processing plant in Costa Rica. The company has chosen the Muelle Free Trade Zone in the north of the country to install this operation, which aims to serve chocolate makers in Europe and Japan and soon reach other countries, including the United States.

One of this company’s primary differentiators is the way in which it buys the cocoa and the development it expects to generate among producers.  Magalicia Escalante, founding partner of Pur Cacao in Costa Rica, affirmed that “this is the story of a woman who has wanted to cultivate a relationship of trust, collaboration, respect, and hard work to introduce to France, Japan, and the United States a unique and exceptional product from Costa Rica: native cocoa from Talamanca produced and tended with the utmost care by Indigenous Bribis women producers.”

“Costa Rica is a country with great respect and care for nature and humans, and that is one of the values we want to transmit from Pur Cacao through this highly aromatic product,” Escalante added. 

Acting Foreign Trade Minister Paula Bogantes stated, “one of the country’s priorities is development outside the greater metropolitan area (GMA), so we are working in the foreign trade sector to improve competitiveness and foster inclusive, sustainable, and resilient economic growth. Pur Cacao’s investment in Muelle, San Carlos, is an example of the potential all cantons have to tie into the international economy. The new operations will enable the company to export cocoa seeds to different destinations such as Europe and Japan.”

CINDE Managing Director Jorge Sequeira commented, “these types of projects reflect the hard work of communities outside the greater metropolitan area to generate development and bring jobs to their regions. For CINDE, development and investment attraction outside the GMA is a priority and we are committed to continue working hand in hand with the communities to generate the best possible conditions so that companies can invest there. Starting in 2023, and with the regulations to the law to promote investment in these areas, we hope that announcements such as that of Pur Cacao will become more and more frequent throughout the country.”

Pur Cacao is the first multinational company to set up in the Muelle Free Trade Zone and make use of the option provided by the industrial park for companies operating under this regime. This site was selected precisely thanks to its strategic location, park facilities, and talent, and in this stage the company already has five collaborators, all from the northern area. 

“Muelle Free Trade Zone is a park with first-world infrastructure that provides all the services needed by domestic and international companies. This is the first industrial, commercial, and logistics park under the free trade zone regime in the North Huetar region. It has 47 hectares strategically located in Muelle, San Carlos. Companies such as Pur Cacao have found great interest here in technology, environmental protection, and innovation, essential areas for both their businesses and us,” noted Fabricio Ramírez, Muelle Free Trade Zone representative. 

A company dedicated to the preparation of cocoa, chocolate, and candy products, other manufacturing, and materials recovery, Pur Cacao is located in Muelle, San Carlos.

Muelle Free Trade Zone was created as a response to a regional development strategy promoted by the private sector and supported by academia and municipalities, among others, to take advantage of the free trade zone regime’s benefits with the idea that both local and foreign companies can add value to our primary sector, triggering productive linkages and creating quality jobs, opportunities, and economic development. The park offers comprehensive services for domestic and international companies with the infrastructure demanded by the first world.