Hacienda Alsacia, in Costa Rica, is the first and only coffee farm operated by Starbucks, with more than 800,000 coffee trees growing on 240 hectares on the slopes of the Poás volcano. Acquired in 2013, the farm is currently home to the Starbucks Costa Rica Coffee Farmer Support Center, inaugurated in 2004 and one of 10 worldwide, as well as Starbucks' Global Research and Development team. At the farm, the objective is to help solve the multiple problems that affect coffee-growing communities around the world, such as climate change, the aging of the agricultural population, and coffee rust. It does this by creating new disease- and climate-resistant coffee varieties, modeling and developing best farming practices that are disseminated to Starbucks' other Farmer Support Centers, working with farmers to help them understand how to evaluate the taste and quality of their coffee, and serving as a meeting place for coffee experts and Starbucks' partners (employees).