Five commodities produced on the Osa Peninsula include chocolate, coffee, palm oil, pineapples, and bananas.
Chocolate is produced from cacao beans. Cacao beans are found within fruit grown on the cacao tree. The production of chocolate from cacao beans is fairly complicated. First, the fruit must be harvested from the trees. Then, the fruit must be split open to remove the beans. Next, the beans must ferment for 2-8 days and be left to dry for 1-2 weeks. Once the beans are completely dry, they are roasted, remaining shells are removed, and then ground up. Lastly, the ground cocoa is mixed with other ingredients like sugar, milk, and vanilla, and heat tempered to form chocolate. Chocolate and cocoa powder produced in Costa Rica is sold locally and exported. Finca Kobo is an example of a chocolate producer on the Osa Peninsula.
https://www.scienceofcooking.com/chocolate/how-is-chocolate-made.htm
http://www.fincakobo.com/tours_choco.html
Coffee beans grow on trees on farms on the Osa Peninsula and are encased in a cherry-like fruit. There are several steps required to process coffee beans. The coffee fruits are either hand or machine-picked from the trees. They are then dried in the sun, and milled to remove any remnants of the dried fruit. Finally, the coffee beans are sorted by size through filters, roasted, and packaged for sale. Coffee grown in Costa Rica is both sold locally and exported. Rancho Raices de Osa is a farm on the Osa Peninsula that grows coffee beans.
https://www.ncausa.org/about-coffee/10-steps-from-seed-to-cup
Palm oil is derived from kernels of the oil palm. Kernels are harvested, and then transported to factories where they are processed. Processing involves extracting and cleaning the oil from the kernels. Much of the palm oil produced in Costa Rica is likely exported to foreign factories. Palm oil is the most widely used oil in the world and is found in everything from candy bars to shampoo. Palm oil plantations are scattered across the Osa Peninsula, and because oil palm can grow in extremely acidic soil, they are being used as a way to reclaim farmland that was damaged by intensive banana farming in years past.
uvmheadwaters.org/redefining-an-industry-costa-ricas-alternative-model-for-palm-production/
https://www.foodunfolded.com/article/palm-oil-how-its-made
Pineapples grow on shrubs and are harvested by cutting the fruit out of the mass of whorled leaves which they grow from. After harvest, there is no other processing required to make pineapples suitable for sale. Pineapples are grown on many small farms on the Osa Peninsula, and are both sold locally and exported. Some of these small farms may sell their harvest to large fruit companies like Del Monte to be shipped to grocery stores around the world. An example of a small farm on the Osa Peninsula that grows pineapples is Rancho Raices de Osa.
www.freshdelmonte.com/our-products/whole-produce/pineapples/
Bananas are an important fruit grown on the Osa Peninsula. Bananas are grown in bunches in trees and are harvested by cutting the fruit from trees. After harvest, bananas do not require any further processing to be ready to eat and sell. Bananas grown on the Osa Peninsula are likely mostly sold locally but some farmers may sell their crop to large fruit companies like Del Monte. Finca Kobo is an example of a farm on the Osa Peninsula that grows bananas.