The Cooperative of Banana Workers of the South, COOPETRABASUR, was founded in February 17th of 1980.

The cooperative is located in the community of Laurel of Corredores; province of Puntarenas, near the border zone between Costa Rica and Panama.

When the transnational company that produced banana left the zone, 79 banana ex- workers received a training in cooperativism. Once the cooperative was founded, the government authorities, by means of the economical support given by the Institute of Lands and Colonization, facilitated the sale of the lands that are today COOPETRABASUR’s property.

In the South Zone of Costa Rica, the cooperative counts with 3 properties named Caucho, Caimito and Tamarindo. Altogether they sum up 500 hectares of land from which 223 are dedicated to the production of banana and 289 to the oil palm.

From 1980 until 1995, the cooperative produced and exported its fruits according to the standards established by transnational companies like Chiquita Land Co. Panama, Armuelles Division. During those years, the cooperative enjoyed relative stability and growth.

 In 1995, this company stopped commercializing the fruit of COOPETRABASUR, reason why the cooperative decided to export its products by means of the Banana Group of the Pacific S.A.

The effort impelled by the members of the cooperative and the support of this company, allowed COOPETRABASUR to overcome in 2001, the crisis in which it had fallen years back.

 In 2006, COOPETRABASUR took the challenge to benefit more families, reason why it extended its operations to the Costa Rican Caribbean Zone. There, it acquired lands of a small banana property called Algarva; this property is located in the community of Las Brisas del Caribe.

This purchase responded to a request of the Swiss Coop; main client of the cooperative, and counted with the help and financial assistance of AgroFair, the Banana National Corporation, the Institute of Cooperative Promotion and the Bank of Costa Rica.