At Cuatro Camino Coffee Estates, our social commitment means that we take care of our team and the community around us. Therefore, as a key part of our business model, we take a percentage of the gross operating profit and place it into a bonus pool to improve the lives of our workers, their families and the community.

We provide better living conditions for our workers:

Over the last 6 years of operations, the bonus pool has been used to drastically improve the living conditions for our workers and their families on our farms. This includes installing electricity, running water, flushing toilets and gas stoves in their housing.   Basic services that most of us take for granted but that represent a huge improvement in the lives of our coffee farm workers.

At Cuatro Caminos, we provide increased salaries and performance-related bonuses as well as Social Security, which provides medical, pension and dental benefits that very few coffee farm workers receive.

Additionally, on each farm where there is housing, an area is set aside for our workers and allocated to growing their own fruits and vegetables. This way our farmers can save part of the salary they would otherwise spend on food, and these fruit trees and vegetables also provide shade to our coffee saplings and add to the biodiversity in our farms. A win-win scenario.

We are proud of our educational programs:

One of our main programs, and a source of great pride and commitment to our people, is our educational support program for our workers´ children and those adult workers that wish to continue their education.

The Scholar Support Program consists of providing a cash bonus at the beginning of each new school year. This bonus is used to buy whatever they need for school (uniforms, books, stationary, backpacks etc). In return, we monitor their attendance each week, and at the end of each trimester they submit their school reports to us so we can follow their academic performance.

We currently have 65 children of school-going age living on our farms and 59 of them are participating in the scholar support program along with many of our adult workers who have taken up the opportunity to continue their highschool studies and work at the same time. After their daily shift on the farm, which is hard work in the heat, they then study in the evenings. 

This shows great commitment and determination and we are extremely proud of them.

The education program is a life changing opportunity for our workers to increase their level of education and opens doors to opportunities and a lifestyle that was previously unavailable.

Malaquias, one of our workers, has not only finished school but also completed a technical study in electricity thanks to his discipline, hard work and the support of the company. Following in his footsteps are many other adult workers that are now finishing their highschool education. 

When our Community Improves, we all Improve:

Part of our social commitment is aimed at our community around us, in Boquete, Panama! 

As part of this commitment, Cuatro Caminos Coffee Estates is a sponsor of Fundacion Folklorica Jose Corella.  The group is comprised of 100+ dancers that regularly represent Panama in Europe, South America and North America. The foundation offers different workshops, like singing, percussion classes, national dancing, violin lessons and hand-crafting of “tembleques” (traditional jewelry).

Thanks to Cuatro Caminos, Fundacion Folklorica Jose Corella can continue growing and educating young Panamanians to appreciate their heritage and to learn and share their national music, customs and dances with the local community, and the rest of the world.

Additionally, Cuatro Caminos makes an annual  donation to Los Buenos Vecinos de Boquete.  This is a small, volunteer organization that provides non-perishable food on a monthly basis to roughly 100 needy families in the greater Boquete area. We are very proud and happy to support 10 of these families. The majority of them are single moms, elderly, handicapped or struggling to support a handicapped family member.

We are very proud of developing these activities with our staff and our community. Our mission is to continue growing as a company, hand in hand with our people and our community!

We firmly believe that a rising tide floats all boats!