Costa Rica's coffees are among the best in the world. Its Central Valley is the ideal place to grow coffee because of its altitude and mineral-rich volcanic soil. The coffee planting cycle starts in May. Coffee has been called "The Golden Bean" because of the economic prosperity it has brought to Costa Rica. In the last 100 years, coffee has transformed Costa Rica from a colonial backwater to a relatively affluent and cosmopolitan republic. The Tarrazú region has an ideal climate for growing some of the world's best coffees, its altitude, volcanic soils and temperatures create a cup result of cleanliness, smoothness and balance. The vast majority of Costa Rica's coffees come from the Tarrazú area, near the Poas volcano. The coffees from the region are produced at an altitude of 1200 meters and above, which makes them strictly hard bean (SHB), the highest classification in the Costa Rican system. CoopeTarrazu currently has 2,600 members. The cooperative helps to get technical assistance to members, low-cost loans, low prices for fertilisers. The most important aspect of the cooperative is the economic benefit for the region and the members. It has more than 50 years of experience and tradition. The 5 principles of the cooperative are: Solidarity, Transparency, Sustainability, Quality and Service. They have the Fairtrade coffee label. La Pastora is a coffee developed by CoopeTarrazú, a recognised cooperative in San Marcos, Tarrazú, which provides its members with coffee processing points, marketing tools and services for exports. And in this case the women's project, collected only from women coffee farmers.