San Hose, 16 March 2011

A group of Costa Rican coffee growers is marketing the world's first certified carbon-neutral coffee in a bid to cash in with environmentally conscious consumers.

CoopeDota, a cooperative of 800 coffee farms in the Central American nation's Dota valley, hopes certified carbon-neutral coffee will command the same sort of premiums consumers now pay for other environmentally-certified growing practices.

"We want to be pioneers and as pioneers we must show proof of an environmental consciousness," said Miguel Badilla, a co-op member and the owner of a 15-hectare plantation in Santa Maria de Dota.

More than 15,000 60-kg bags of raw beans and 383 bags of toasted coffee - about half the co-op's output -- will carry the carbon-neutral seal when they hit the market this year.

Ends --