Pur Cacao, a France-headquartered company that processes cocoa seeds to export paste for chocolate-making, has inaugurated its first processing plant in Muelle Free Trade Zone in San Carlos Canton, Alajuela Province.

According to the company, they have chosen the north of the country to install its processing plant, 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 how it buys the cocoa and the development it expects to generate among producers. 

“We are introducing 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 Bribi women producers," Magalicia Escalante, founding partner of Pur Cacao said. "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.”

Pur Cacao is the first multinational company to set up in the Muelle Free Trade Zone. They are one of many international firms investing in Costa Rica.

This week, the Ohio-headquartered BriskHeat, a manufacturing company, opened operations at Green Park Free Zone in Alajuela Province with its first Latin American facility.

Even though new businesses are creating jobs in Costa Rica, the unemployment rate has increased to 12%, according to the National Employment Survey. The data recorded from July to September, show that there are more than 297,000 people without registered jobs. Of these, 165,000 are women, making up 55% of unemployed people in the country.

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