Starbucks Coffee Company announced that it will develop a visitor’s center at its coffee farm, Hacienda Alsacia, on the slopes of Poás volcano, about 30 minutes from the international airport in Alajuela, Costa Rica. The center will begin receiving tourists in 2018.

Since the purchase of the 240-hectare farm in March 2013, Starbucks has run it as a typical coffee plantation, and in doing so, has learned more about the resources and techniques needed to grow the highest quality Arabica coffee, said the company.

This has led to coffee-growing practices developed together with Conservation International that have dramatically improved yields by improving shrub health, and has also allowed Starbucks to establish and verify of best practices for coffee cultivation. These practices are disseminated throughout the world by leading global agronomic summits and through the company’s nine coffee grower support centers.

Hacienda Alsacia’s existing Global Research and Development Center has worked to develop hybrid coffee plants in collaboration with industry experts to directly counter the impact of climate change on the coffee industry which, especially in Latin America, has been increasingly affected by the coffee rust blight. In 2015, Starbucks donated thousands of plants from five different coffee hybrids developed through its research to the Costa Rican Coffee Institute (ICAFE), said the company.

The planned center will allow visitors from around the world to gain first hand a broader understanding of the agronomy work the company has been doing and investing in for two decades.

“This is a great opportunity to showcase what happens on coffee farms so our customers understand the human touch and care behind every cup of coffee,” said Cliff Burrows, chairman of Starbucks’ Siren Retail and Global Coffee Group. “This visitor center will allow us to create a connection between the people who grow coffee, the role of our farm in helping them to ensure their economic stability, and the shops that roast and prepare coffee for our customers every day.”

The new center will take visitors through the entire coffee production process, from planting the shrub, to processing the freshly picked fruits, and then drying, roasting and final preparation of the beans.

Starbucks has offered Costa Rican coffee since it opened in 1971, and in 2004, opened its first coffee grower support center. Starbucks currently operates 11 stores in Costa Rica through its strategic partner, Premium Restaurants of America.

Starbucks Costa Rica recently launched a special edition of single source coffee from Hacienda Alsacia sold exclusively in Costa Rica.

Their work here is part of a global business that supports more than one million coffee growers and workers throughout the world, said the company.