AgroNosotros (AgN) is a pioneering effort to vertically integrate the specialty coffee and fine flavor cacao industries, beginning with ICFC in Panama in 2014 and BCC in Belize in 2016.

The business model is to acquire under-performing, under-capitalized, commercial coffee and cacao farms, and suitable raw land, in areas surrounding Boquete, Panama and in the Toledo District of Belize and turn those farms/raw land into very productive specialty coffee and cacao farms, over a 3-year period.

AgroNosotros currently operates 11 specialty coffee farms and 5 fine flavor cacao farms.

Once acquired, depending on the farm itself, a specific plan is put in place to repurpose the farm by adding capital and know-how (coffee or cacao science) to fully develop the farm and get it operating to its maximum potential.

Shade crops will be managed, water systems implemented, and soil and leaf improvements conducted. Old trees that are past their peak will be cut down and replaced by saplings of new, healthier, more in-demand varietals from our own nurseries. And the coffee and cacao will be processed and analyzed for quality in state-of-the-art, on-site wet & dry processing plants and proprietary laboratories.

When implemented, these plans need time to mature…. to “harvest” the extra rewards. These extra rewards will provide increased profits in the form of increased coffee and cacao quantity, higher quality and higher sales prices.

A key part of the business model is to be able to supply micro-lots of single-origin, traceable, specialty coffee and fine flavor cacao worldwide to buyers of these in-demand specialty products.

When acquired, the farms will usually be growing and selling some, usually substandard, coffee or cacao. The business model intends to continue the operations with new and modern management practices to generate near-term income within 15-18 months and to develop an increased and sustainable annual income from these farms that will last for many years.

You should not consider owning parcels in an agricultural opportunity, such as AgroNosotros, unless you intend to hold for a minimum of 5-7 years and preferably much longer.

Nature takes time to work her Magic! And any shorter period of time may result in you not realizing the financial results anticipated.

The business model does not contemplate an exit strategy. It has been designed to provide a sustainable passive annual and legacy income for the current and future family members of farm parcel owners.

There is a minimum contractual hold period of 3 years. This is to allow at least some of the value-added improvements on the farms to affect your parcel value.

However, even though the intent is a long-term hold, opportunities may exist for individual parcel owners to sell their property after 3 years, should the need arise.

First, many seasoned investors strongly believe that long-term ownership of land has proven to be the most reliable and traditional path to significant gains in wealth over many generations of the world’s wealthiest families.

As the world-famous “self-made man” Will Rogers once said, “Buy land. They ain’t making any more of the stuff.” We at AgroNosotros think that is sage advice!

Second, the retention of income-producing land over long periods of time, along with the careful and constant management of the land to improve crop yield and quality, has proven to add to the wealth-generating benefits of long-term agricultural land ownership. We think that is the ultimate “buy and hold” strategy!

Third, with an ever increasing global population and more and more mouths to feed, accompanied by the decreasing availability of arable land, agricultural real estate is in ever increasing demand.

Fourth, if the agricultural land produces a non-perishable, truly specialty crop that is in high and increasing demand, with proven channels to market for those crops already in-place, and with sustainable high profit margins consistently available, we believe a high-probability formula for success is assured.

That perfectly describes the economics of coffee and cacao, in our opinion!

A basic price and market has always been available for coffee and cacao. Coffee is a $40 billion market in the United States alone ($90 billion worldwide), with specialty coffee demand growing at an astounding annual rate of at least 20%.

Cacao, when considered collectively as chocolate, is also a $90-$100 billion industry worldwide. Chocolate in all forms, and especially specialty artisanal chocolate, has enjoyed a recent resurgence in demand internationally and this demand is also growing steadily.

Should these trends only continue, even without taking into consideration the current relentless increase in the popularity of “all things coffee and chocolate”, the demand for specialty coffee and cacao in the United States alone may double every 3 years, making a 20-year or more plan to own parcels of specialty coffee and fine flavor cacao producing farms an incredibly attractive real estate ownership opportunity.

Further, AgroNosotros’ focus on the rapidly increasing worldwide demand for specialty coffee and fine flavor cacao is a low-risk business strategy. If at any time in the future should demand for high-quality and specialty coffee and/or cacao decrease, all the production can be immediately sold on the international commercial coffee and cacao market, as a commodity offering. Doing so may not obtain the incremental specialty premium desired, but will certainly eliminate any downside financial risk of producing a crop that can’t be sold.

Adding to the reliability of any income associated with owning coffee and cacao producing land is AgroNosotros’ business strategy of pooling all revenues and expenses from an individual farm’s operations.

This pooling strategy mitigates the impact on earnings on any individual parcel from lower or no crop yield and poor crop quality. This could occur due to such factors as the age of the trees on any particular parcel, the replanting of a particular area of the farm and specific parcel-related weather and pestilence issues.

And finally….always remember YOU OWN THE LAND! Which would make Will Rogers “real happy” to know! A real hard asset, offshore, safe, secure, private and dependable.

AgroNosotros is “Sustainable Income from Offshore Specialty Agriculture”.

Our mission is to own and operate specialty coffee and cacao farms in Panama, Belize and elsewhere that are Economically, Environmentally and Socially Sustainable.

Our slogan is “Grow It Globally”.

Sustainability is the cornerstone of our business model. It is not just a buzz word thrown around or a marketing tool.

We believe that with these 3 pillars of Sustainability we can produce amazing specialty coffee and cacao that in turn provides a great living for our team and a handsome return for our parcel Owners.

As a key part of our business model we take a full 20% of the gross operating profit from each farm and place it into a bonus pool. This pool is currently being used to provide vastly improved living conditions for our workers and their families. Basics that we take for granted like electricity, running water, flushing toilets, showers and gas stoves are provided. Amenities that most have not had any access to throughout their lives.

We provide increased salaries and performance related bonuses as well as paying 100% of their Social Security, which provides medical, pension and dental benefits that very few farm workers receive.

We have also facilitated those children and adults who wish to attend school, to do so. In 2016 in Panama, 9 children took us up on our offer. In 2017 we had 21, which included 3 Mom’s who actually went back to school! Why? Because their men are working steadily, with well-paid and reliable jobs, their kids are fed and housed properly and they can relax a little…and look after themselves a bit, for a change. Important stuff! In 2018 the number of children and young adults returning to school as a result of our program went up to 61 individuals! That is 56 children and 4 young adults.

2. ENVIRONMENTAL

We have our own in-house agronomist and a value chain analyst/biologist and we are constantly studying and evaluating the eco-system within each of our farms.

We operate a “closed loop” coffee mill and processing system in Panama where nothing on the farm goes to waste. Virtually no toxic elements get into the environment from our mill.

The cherry pulp that is removed during processing is used to create fertilizer and compost, with the help of the California Red Earthworms in our pulp patio. The resulting liquid food is sprayed directly onto each and every tree individually during the harsh dry season to protect them and keep them healthy and nourished.

Even the parchment that is removed from the coffee bean during peeling prior to export is used to fuel the furnace that dries the coffee.

In Belize, we have continued the organically grown traditional methods for cacao production and have built our own proprietary fermentation and drying depot with a capacity to process and store 60 tons of cacao annually. As a measure of relevance, 60 tons is about the amount of cacao produced by Belize in 2015/2016!

3. ECONOMIC

Obviously we need to be Economically Sustainable because if the farms don’t make money, we cannot implement any of the social practices discussed above.

This often means working smarter not harder. Using modern farming practices and machinery , having our own coffee processing plant and cacao depot to produce micro lots of single-origin, traceable specialty coffee and cacao, that sells for 2 – 5 – 10 even 50 times the commercial rate, are a few of the ways our capital investments improve the economic viability of our operations.

Buying input materials in bulk as the farm portfolio increases in size, managing our farm personnel over the entire portfolio, cost-saving measures in the processing mill and a plethora of other small things, when added together result in the economies of scale required in a financially well-run operation.

We encourage all of you to come to Panama and Belize on one of our group farm parcel ownership discovery tours.

The tours scheduled for the balance of 2017 and 2018 are on the individual coffee and cacao websites.

Come and spend 4 days in “Panama Paradise” getting to know us and our whole team, walk the farms, learn what is involved in the whole process from seed all the way to green coffee bean and enjoy the best cup of coffee you have ever had. You will get to see specialty coffee professionally processed, cupped, scored and evaluated. You can even try your hand at it yourself!

In Belize you will see what we call “Dirt to Dollars”. A couple of days visiting the farms and some local Mayan ruins, a hands-on tour of our processing depot, spectacular flights over the beautiful landscape of Belize, and the crowning jewel, a tour and chocolate making class in our own 5-star artisanal chocolate shop on the #1 best island worldwide for tourism, Ambergris Caye.

For more information check out the Farm Tour section on our websites www.internationalcoffeefarms.com and www.belizecacaoconsortium.com.